


Hell-bent

by ZevakRitpel



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Angst and Humor, Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Blow Jobs, Bodyguard Romance, Child Soldiers, Crimes & Criminals, Dark Past, Enemies to Lovers, Enemy Lovers, Explicit Language, F/F, M/M, Sexual Content, Violence, bodyguard romance: kagakuro, enemy lovers: momoriko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2018-07-14 05:15:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 39,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7155188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZevakRitpel/pseuds/ZevakRitpel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adult AU, Criminal Underworld AU. Where Kagami Taiga is a young heir suddenly targeted by 6 rather dangerous members of the criminal underworld (each with their own set of personal troubles), and Kuroko is a bodyguard with a dark past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue-- Introducing Our Colourful Cast of Characters

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. I thought to myself, can you imagine a world where all the GoM kids used their superpowers...sorry, their totally mundane skills..for what they're suited to best: underground criminal activities. Seriously. Kuroko was born to be a mercenary. And don't get me started on Akashi....
> 
> So about those tags. I'll add more as I write more, and though the pairings I put in will stand, I may very well add more later. 
> 
> Anyways, this is my first KNB fanfic so please be gentle. No need to take it too seriously, but I hope you enjoy!

**[Wednesday. Time: 01:03. Meet the Sniper]**

 

Today's lucky item for Cancers is a steel garlic press.

"Oi, Shin-chan. The target will be moving along the second floor, west wall any minute now. You ready?"

Midorima clicks his tongue impatiently and tenses his bandaged fingers against the cool metal of his M24. He's been lying on his stomach for the past half hour, with the kitchen utensil tucked inside his pants' pocket digging into his upper thigh the entire time. Still, with his intense focus and dedication, comfort comes secondary. Naturally.

Of course he's ready.

"Indeed."

The sharpshooter narrows his bright green eyes in concentration, and continues to watch the movements behind the windows of the building adjacent. His position on this warehouse roof  really couldn't be more ideal. No wind either, and just the right amount of clouds in the sky.

Today's lucky numbers for Cancer: 15- 73- 3- 22- 47

Takao is still babbling needlessly into his ear piece, to the point where Midorima is tempted to turn off the sound of his voice completely. This is exactly why he prefers working solo...no, no. He must persevere. In this case, teamwork is important, especially with Takao 'Hawkeye' Kazunari.

"Alright you've got one shot at this, don't miss <3 "

"I never miss."

It's true. He never misses.

Today's target is a corrupt bureaucrat that got way above his head in his dealings with the underground. Pissed off all the wrong people, couldn't have managed to fuck up this hard if he tried.

Middle aged. 180 cm in height. Dark hair, olive skin. Has until now gone through great lengths to avoid facing the consequences for his greedy actions.

And yet the exact millisecond that he enters Midorima's range, his life is forfeit.

Today's horoscope for Cancers:  You'll soon be faced with new challenges, in both work and romance. Advice: Be wary of those who bring up the past.

Midorima takes a deep, calm breath. His hands are perfectly steady; heartbeat unwavering.

"Man proposes; God disposes" he mutters, then pulls the trigger.

 

**[Wednesday. Time: 02:09. Meet the Fake]**

 

"As expected of a model," purrs the drunken businessman, sliding his fat sweaty hand up Kise's thin blue designer shirt and pressing his fingers against the small of the younger man's back.

"Your skin is so smooth . How nice to be so young."

Kise giggles nervously and starts absently toying with the thick cross pendant dangling from the silver chain on his neck. With his free hand, he fishes the lime out of his gin and tonic, drains the rest of the drink in one go.

"Hehe~. That tickles..."

The businessman practically leers at this reaction, but he stops groping Kise in order to take the empty glass from his hands, and saunters over to the hotel room's mini-bar.

"Another G&T?" he asks, pulling a bottle of Beefeater out of the small fridge.

Kise nods an affirmative yes, then he also stands up and walks over to where his new drink is being poured. His bare feet are light and silent against the carpeted floor.

"I'm so glad we moved to a more...private setting. "

"Me too."

Kise hums with a genuine smile, wrapping his arm around the other man's neck. He keeps at the chokehold for a few seconds until the businessman slumps down, out cold.

Ugh. That was a pain in the ass.

Well, okay. Thankfully it didn't come to _that_.

Planting one foot on the chest of the unconscious body, Kise readjusts his own disheveled clothing before pulling a few zip ties out of his pocket. One to secure the wrists together, and a couple around the ankles, for good measure.

Satisfied with his job of binding the pervy sleeping man, Kise next has to make a call. Quick dial.

"Are you done?" snaps the irritable voice of Kasamatsu on the other end of the line, without so much as a greeting.

"Easy-peasy! It wasn't any fun at all."

"Fun? This isn't a game, Ryouta."

"I know, I know," Kise lies with a pout, twisting his cross necklace around his fingers.

He does not know. Of course this is a game, that's the only way he can get into it.

"But it's lucky I copied that 'seduction' skill from-"

"'Seduction' isn't a skill you can copy, you tacky bimbo. Airheads like you are just naturally good at that shit, which is why I got you to do this job in the first place."

"KYAH ! Did you just praise m-"

"Shut the hell up. "

Kise's smile widens but the tears in his yellow eyes glisten like jewels.

"Anyways, now that you've lured him in, we've got how many hours until someone notices his useless ass is missing?"

"What is it now? 02:15....He says he's just got a meeting at 13:00 today."

"Perfect. I'm coming over to take care of the rest. You sit tight until then."

Kise hangs up with a despondent sigh. He plops himself down on the older man's stomach, which makes for a nice cushion to sit on. This guy's in for a real world of pain, huh?

The young man slips his pendant between his lips, sucking at the silver cross thoughtfully.

Not that this isn't exciting work or anything (it's not), but....Kise can't help but feel his jobs lately have been pretty lackluster. He's not really putting his special skills to use, fucking over these stupid lechers that get themselves into stupid troubles.

Something good better come soon. Otherwise...

The cross falls from Kise's lips onto his chest. Right against his heart.

 

**[Wednesday. Time: 04:04. Meet the Chessmaster]**

 

[white noise feed]

 

**[Wednesday. Time: 23:52. Meet the Blood Knight and the Book]**

 

"Ahh, that smarts a little."

Aomine spits out an alarmingly thick lump of blood and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. The taste of copper on his lips only further fuels his bloodlust, to the great misfortune of the four men surrounding him.

Not that they're fully aware of this quite yet.

"Listen, I'd love to play mafia with you kids, but I've got some grown up things I'd like to take care of, so why don't you just skip along home-WHOAH OKAY."

After dodging the bullet aimed at his left shoulder, Aomine finds his back pressed up against a brick wall. Behind his favourite nightclub, no less.

"You. You're going to pay for what you did." This coming from punk #3, who would sound a lot more formidable if he didn't look like he was about to cry.

Aomine rubs the side of his face, which still stings a bit from the earlier hit (courtesy of punk #1, who was granted the first number for actually managing to get within face-punching range of Aomine).

"You're going to have to be more specific." he laughs, though he's actually much more serious than his tone would imply.  Aomine is a man who has done many things that could warrant armed pissbabies cornering him in a dark alley under the false illusion that they can harm him in any way.

He tries to mentally run through all the women he's slept with in the past month that could have had jealous lovers; it's too much work, so he gives up.

"Don't play dumb!"

This from punk #2, the gun-wielder, who seems to have realized halfway through that this kind of command is futile on Aomine. He clears his throat to elaborate:

"You've got a lot of nerve showing up in this area after the disrespect you showed our boss."

Aomine squints.

"Our boss.....last night? At the bar across the street? You broke his arm..."

Punk #2 is faltering at Aomine's complete lack of remembrance, but his comrades are growing livid.

"This motherfucker...guess we really should teach him a lesson."

Aomine's heart almost skips a beat when he sees Punk #1 pull a crowbar out of his bag. But his excitement is short-lived: the fight is over before it even begins. It takes less than 3 minutes to curb these shits into the ground and leave them writhing in the same pain and regret their boss experienced yesterday.

Pathetic.

Disappointed, Aomine kicks the unconscious Punk #4 in the ribs one last time, then staggers away from the bloodied scene and wanders off onto the main street.

Before he can brood over his easy win, Aomine spots a familiar someone leaning against a parking sign, waving right at him. That long, silky pink hair, the sweet but kinda shit-eating grin...the unmistakable three sizes-

"Hey, Dai-chan," Momoi smiles, walking up to greet him. She has to tilt her head quite a bit to maintain eye contact.

"I was worried about you after I heard you quit your job, but I'm glad that you're not above picking fights with petty thugs."

Aomine grimaces and covers half his face sheepishly with his fingers.

"Ugh. You saw that?"

"I sure did. Seriously, what the hell happened?"

Aomine would love to answer that. He really would.

"What about you, Satsuki? What brings you to this area?"

Momoi raises her eyebrows, to assure Aomine that his attempt to change the subject is not going unnoticed. However, more pressing issues are at hand.

"Looking for your NEET ass, actually. Here,"

She rummages through her bag--which is full of various papers, as is the lot in life of an information broker--before pulling out a small white envelope and handing it to her old childhood friend.

"What is this?"

"A job offer."

 

**[Thursday. Time: 13:16. Meet the Target and the Phantom]**

 

"Huh? A bodyguard? I don't know what my old man told you, but I can take care of myself."

Kagami Taiga's red eyes are glowing with his usual dose of boundless passion. Passion his family's Head of Security, Riko Aida, wishes he'd put into his studies. Or something. Christ, this kid is such a headache.

"Of course, I'm well aware of your physical prowess and fighting skills, Master Taiga. However, I'm afraid that, given the exposure of your existence as heir to the Kagami empire and...well, other matters-"

Riko pauses for a moment, taking a peek at Kagami's expression, which, though indignant, does not show that he picked up on the poorly explained set of circumstances. Like at all.

"Aside from the usual thugs, I have reason to believe a rather notorious, skilled set of people will be hired to come after you."

"Let them come," Kagami  states rather fervently, slamming his open palm against Riko's wooden desk.

"I'll take them on."

Riko goes through physical pain in an attempt to avoid rolling her eyes. The attempt fails. Her patience has evaporated.

"Alright, well good luck with that. I'm still going to assign a 24-hour guard for you."

"WHA-?!"

"Lower your voice, you brat! He's worked in the underground since a young age, and has a lot of connections with these types of people. Be grateful to me that I'm not putting you on lockdown until this whole thing blows over."

The young Kagami is far from thrilled at this outcome, but even he can see there's no hope of winning this round. He sits back down in his chair with a small grunt of dissatisfaction, crossing his arms over his chest. A little petulant and overexcited, but always respectful. Riko doesn't bother to hide her smirk.

"So?  When do I get to meet this guy?"

"Ah, now that you mention it, "

Riko checks the time on her wristwatch, her brow furrowed slightly.

" I told him to meet me in my office before you got here, but it seems he hasn't shown up yet."

"Uh, actually,"

Riko and Kagami both freeze for a half a second, their blood running cold, faces drained of all colour.

Moving by pure instinct, Riko pulls out a loaded handgun, ready to fire, while Kagami is already up and wielding his chair like a weapon. Both natural fighters are completely ready for bloodshed...until they register the source of the voice.

A small, pale young man, roughly Kagami's age, is standing at the back of the room, right under the small framed portrait of puppies Riko nailed to the wall a couple of weeks ago. (It used to sit on her desk, but Kagami kept covering it every time he came in through the office, so...)

"H-how long have you been there?"  Riko, who has seen the carnage of multiple battlefields, barely stutters out.

"I was here the entire time." the stranger responds in a soft matter-of-fact voice, as if that isn't one of the creepier answers he could give.

Kagami gently places the chair back to its rightful place on the floor, pretending like he isn't suffering from massive heart palpitations.

"You called me here?" adds ghost child...no, no Riko, get a hold of yourself. He's clearly human...he's...

"OH. You must be Kuroko??"  Riko, finally having regained her composure, extends an arm of welcome as he nods yes.

"You really... should've said something haha. please, take a seat."

 _That's_ him? _The_ Kuroko Tetsuya, the notorious 'Phantom'??? But he looks so...frail. He's clad a white button down shirt and grey pants, neither of which could seem to be hiding some hidden muscle-definition. His skin is very pale, very anemic-looking. This can't possibly be...

Kuroko blinks back at Riko with his large, pale blue eyes. Though he appears expressionless, Riko can't help but feel a certain level of scorn emanating from this man. He's judging hard for being judged hard.

That's fair.

Riko chews at the nail of her thumb for one contemplative second,then decides to roll with the benefit of the doubt.

"Alright, Kagami Jr. This is the man who'll be sticking to you for the next...little while. Meet your new shadow."

"Eh?"

Kagami looks down in disbelief at the tiny pale blue creature that has just been assigned to protect his life. 

A very small, very cold little hand places itself inside Kagami's own.

"Nice to meet you."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me..."

 

 

**[Thursday. Time: 17:08. Meet the Reaper]**

 "Atsushi, you've got like fifteen missed calls. Please just answer your phone."

Murasakibara  _could_ answer his phone, but...he could also just shove another fistful of all-dressed chips into his mouth and  _not_ answer anything that remotely sounds like work.

"Atsushi...please. I think it's urgent."

Don't worry. Murasakibara makes sure to chew his food properly. It's better for digestion.


	2. Chapter 1- More like Phantom SICK Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few more character introductions and some ~exposition~. Maybe a couple of "ohho hoho my" moments, who knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna have all the character storylines in this chapter, but I got overexcited and just posted it like this. I'll try to be more complete + write longer chapters in the future, but for now I hope you can still enjoy this!
> 
> Also I hope you can forgive any typos I've made, it's like 3 a.m. and I am but a simple bean.

**[Thursday. Time: 23:23.  Pre-game]**

 

Another jolt of crippling pain shatters through his left eye.

Akashi Seijuro sits still for a few minutes, applying pressure with the bottom of his palm, taking deep, rhythmic breaths until the sensation subsides. He blinks a few times afterwards, to fully regain awareness of himself and his surroundings. Luckily, he's in the privacy of his own study.

Now that he can see clearly again, Akashi looks down at his right hand to see that he had been gripping a chess piece tightly enough to pierce his skin.

He sets the bloodied figure--the black queen-- back on the table, then pulls a silk handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his fingers. The pain is trivial, but to think he let himself go so easily...how unsightly.

With his good hand, Akashi reaches for the blue porcelain tea cup sitting on the edge of his desk, and takes a sip. The cold English Breakfast taste is about as unpleasant as expected, but Akashi is grateful that any kind of liquid was nearby to relieve his dry throat.

He takes a few more deep breaths, then wills himself to stand up straight. Checks his silver pocket watch : half an hour until midnight. Good, there's still time before the _guests_ arrive.

A small trickle of blood runs from his palm and down his wrist: Akashi licks it off absently as he wonders what he should provide for entertainment tonight...

There's a pair of scissors in the back cabinet that should work quite nicely.

 

**[Friday. Time: 12:34.  Small World]**

                                    

A capillary right under Himuro's eye twitches involuntarily. He's positive that if he told someone that the large, sloth-like mess of limbs and gluttony currently sprawled on the floor is actually one of the most powerful killers in the country--the so-called 'Reaper' of the underworld-- they'd call bullshit.

To be fair, if Himuro hadn't witnessed Murasakibara's capabilities himself, he'd also have a hard time believing something so ridiculous. But Himuro knows (all too well), that with the proper trigger, the childish and lethargic Atsushi before him now can turn into a sadistic killing machine. Memories of these moments always brand themselves inside Himuro's mind, forever reminding him of what he's dealing with.

For now, however, Murasakibara is just a giant sleepy useless lump.

"Atsushi, I swear to God..."  

Himuro squats down next to the other man and taps his cheek, eliciting small, unfriendly noises from Murasakibara.

"Don't sleep on the kitchen floor, you get in the way. Actually, don't sleep at all."

"..........."

Himuro sighs, already tired out from the fruitless endeavour of rousing Murasakibara from his laze. He crosses his legs into a comfortable sitting position and watches the killer rest peacefully for a few minutes.

After a while, clearly not thinking too hard about his actions, Himuro brushes aside the long bangs covering Atsushi's face and runs his fingers lightly along his forehead.

Finally, finally, Murasakibara opens his eyes, violet irises peek through his lashes to look up at Himuro, expression unreadable.

"Eh? So you're finally awake." says Himuro, snatching his hand away quickly. His heart is totally beating at a normal rate right now. Haha. Hah.

"Muro-chin, do we have any jobs set up for the next little while?" Murasakibara asks in his usual drawl, trying to sit up.

He gives up halfway through out of sheer laziness and instead opts to rest his heavy head in Himuro's lap.

"Ah um! Uh....n-no. Now that Madame Masako's working on negotiations, she said she wants to avoid unnecessary bloodshed so...why? Does it have to do with those calls you were getting yesterday?"

Muraskibara doesn't answer for a few long moments.

"It's a huge pain in the ass..." he finally mumbles, apparently not aware of how the proximity between his mouth and Himuro's thigh is affecting the other man.

"But they'll probably get Araki involved too, and then...I'll have to......ugh. Like I give a shit about 'Kagami Taiga'......."

"Wait. Wait. What."

No way. There's no way.

_Him?_

 

**[Friday. Time: 14:16.  Surprises]**

 

In the 24 hours Kagami has spent under Riko's new security regime, he has tried to escape nine times, only to have each attempt thwarted by the relentless guard dog that is Kuroko Tetsuya. For someone who was hired to protect Kagami, this Kuroko character sure seems to enjoy shaving the years off Kagami's life by appearing out of nowhere. All the time, he does this.

Riko wasn't kidding when she called him Kagami's 'new shadow'. Fuck.

And how is this weakling supposed to protect him, anyways? He's so small and bland, doesn't smell like a fighter at all. The only assertiveness he shows is his stubborn resolve to dog Kagami's daily life.

Until now, the young heir has been spending most of his time on his own, so who can really blame him for wanting to be alone, away from the quiet and annoyingly persistent 'protection' of this pale imitation of a human being.

And so, desperate to get away, the young heir lies in wait for the next chance to run.

Chance number ten comes around soon enough, when Kuroko asks suddenly, in his soft, cool voice: "Do you mind if I use your shower?"

Kagami is slightly taken aback at first, since this is the first thing his bodyguard has said in the past day that isn't "Where do you think you're going, Master Kagami?"

"Uh...yeah, go ahead."

Kuroko nods politely and gathers up his black work bag. Once he's at the bathroom door, he pauses, turning back to flick his unblinking baby blue eyes up at Kagami.

"What is it..."

"Nothing. Please do not take this opportunity to go off alone."

And with that, he disappears into the bathroom.

Kagami waits until he can hear the sound of running water and the clutter of shampoo bottles. Then he books it.

LIKE HELL HE'S NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY. IS THAT GUY AN IDIOT?

Years of training and natural physical ability allow Kagami to practically fly down the stairways of his apartment complex. His legs are as powerful and fast, but also carry his weight lightly.

He checks his back several times to make sure Kuroko isn't in pursuit, and hones his ears for any vibrations in the stairwells. Blissfully safe.

Once outside, he ducks around to the back of the building, not yet sure which escape route is the best. He can't savour the taste of freedom quite yet, but at least he's bought himself a few minutes. If Kuroko contacts Riko in the next ten minutes, any of his usual hideouts will be exposed. Best to go down through the underpass and-

"I told you not to run off without me."

Kagami makes a throttled sound in the back of his throat as he whips his body around to face a very wet, very, very close Kuroko.

"JESUS! FUCK HOW DO YOU DO THAT!"

How the _hell_ did he catch up so fast? There's no way he could've covered so much ground in so little time, not unless he had been in immediate pursuit, which is impossible.

A chill runs through Kagami. He cranes his head up for a moment, then looks back down at Kuroko's stoic expression.

There's no way.

"Did you ... from the balcony?"

"I thought it would be faster that way."

He thought it would be...faster that way.

Who the fuck.

"Holy shit..."

This bastard scaled down from the seventh floor in a matter of seconds without a scratch on him? That's over twenty meters, without an escape ladder, either.

Could it be....... Kuroko really isn't as weak as he looks?

"I understand you want to go outside, but it's dangerous for many reasons. So if you could please wait until I finish so-"

"Okay, okay," Kagami raises his hand, still struggling to understand just what the fuck. Should he resign himself to the fact that he won't be rid of Kuroko so easily?

No, no. He still hasn't acknowledged or accepted this arrangement. No one's explained what these 'dangers' are to him, or why he should have to put up with a guard in the first place. But...well, this could be interesting in its own way.

"More importantly..."

Kagami  eyes Kuroko, whose appearance isn't exactly fit for the public eye: dripping wet hair still soapy with shampoo, shirt unbuttoned and open to reveal his thin frame and the pale chest underneath; also, it seems he's only managed to throw on a pair of boxers before flinging himself out the window of Kagami's seventh-floor apartment. The bodyguard himself seems unconcerned.

Well, there's no helping it. Kagami unzips his own black sweater, slips it off and dumps it onto the smaller man's head unceremoniously.

"Wha- oomf."

Kuroko  peeks under the arm of the sweater, blinking a few times in surprise.

"Master Taiga?"

"Are you crazy? Don't go jumping out of buildings, it's bad for my heart."

Kuroko opens his mouth to respond, pauses, then reconsiders and just opts for his usual polite nod. Still, there the ghost of a smile plays on his lips as he drapes the borrowed sweater over his shoulders, then follows Kagami back to the apartment complex.

.

It isn't until two hours later, when they're both sitting in a nearby fast food chain, that Kagami realizes. Mouth still full of food, Kagami half-stands with a start, pointing his finger furiously at the bodyguard across from him.

"You bastard!  You set that whole thing up so you could show off your skills to me, didn't you ?!"

Kuroko tilts his head to the side and takes his sweet time sipping from his vanilla shake before responding:

" You were being difficult. Also please swallow before you speak."

"AHHH YOU FUCKING- ugh."

 

**[Friday. Time: 19:43.  The Plot Kinda Thickens]**

 

A brief mental break is in order.

Riko sits up and stretches her arms over her head, craning her neck until she feels a satisfying crack. Next, she rummages through her desk drawer until she finds a small white bottle of chewable vitamin C tablets. She takes one, letting it sit on her tongue to dissolve slowly. Blueberry flavour.

Slumping back against her rather ergonomic leather office chair, Riko pushes her glasses onto her forehead and rubs her temples  with her fingertips. Her brain is fried from work, so she shuts her eyes from the scattering of folders and papers strewn about her desk. She already spent a long, sleepless night yesterday reading and processing data, and she knows all too well that tonight's going to be a hell of a lot longer.

A couple minutes pass before Riko opens her eyes to reality again. Still as grim as ever, huh?

She checks her phone: 1 message from Taiga, begging her to reconsider assigning 'this fucking guy' to him, with an attached photo of what appears to be armed bodyguard Kuroko Tetsuya holding up a stray puppy.

Riko snorts out loud: amazing. She laments a little that she isn't there to see Taiga's reaction, but laments even more that she isn't there to pet that FUCKING ADORABLE DOG. ~KYAH~

Well, it's a good thing those two are getting along. Hyuga was the one that screened Kuroko for this job, so Riko knows this kid must be the real deal: of all her subordinates, Riko trusts Hyuga's word the most.

On top of the recorded physical competency, this Kuroko seems to be handling the young master just fine. This helps the young Head of Security rest just a little easier.

Especially since it appears that the main players in this whole game are far more dangerous than Riko had initially anticipated.

The limited (but valuable) information Riko was able to obtain presents her the following list of major fucking problems:

  * Midorima Shintarou--This name Riko is already quite familiar with. He currently belongs to an  assassin group known as 3K, which seems to target only corrupt politicians, lawyers, and other people in positions of power.  A renowned sniper, known for his impossibly long-range accuracy and 100% success rate.  
  

  * Aomine Daiki-- Another name well known in the underground. Unrivaled in hand-to-hand combat, Aomine was until recently employed by Arbiter Katsunori as a living weapon, often involved in dispelling troublesome gang conflicts. Quit recently due to 'personal reasons'. Whether he will face consequences for this remains unknown.  
  

  * Murasakibara Atsushi-- Referred to in some circles as 'Reaper' for his merciless group kills. His hits are rare, and more often than not gang related. Currently working under Madame Masako of the Araki Group as clean-up and bodyguard.  
  

  * Akashi Seijuro-- Born into a family that is known to run one of the largest crime syndicates on the continent. Unlike his father, his existence and activities are shrouded in nothing but mysteries and rumours. Likely to be pulling the strings on a number large of criminal operations, without getting directly involved himself.  
  

  * Kise Ryouta -- His dossier is the only one to come with photographs. A popular young model, well-behaved with a charming public image... and may very well be doubling as a freelance, versatile tool for various sectors of the underground. Riko's informant also made sure to underline the word 'honey trap' several times, which speaks for itself.



The only thing that seems to connect these people is the assurance of Riko's trusted source that, without a doubt, they have all been enlisted to come after Master Taiga. Obviously there is much, much more at hand, but...

Riko sighs heavily and picks up a file at random. She tries to read it, but the words look blurry...oh. No, she just forgot to put on her reading glasses.

Maybe she should call it a night, after all.

Just as Riko is about to set the papers down  (so she can slam her face into her desk and sleep until the dawn), her eye catches onto a particular name that for some reason hadn't registered the first five hundred  times she had read through them all.

Momoi Satsuki...huh.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You would not believe how many KNB osts and character songs I listened to hype myself up while writing this omg.
> 
> Also what's with me and cliff-hangers, I need to find my chill. 
> 
> Also also, fun fact: the '3K' in Midorima's assassin group name stands for 'Three Kings'
> 
> THANKS FOR READING BLESS BLESS BLESS.


	3. Chapter 2- Come on and SLAM, and Welcome to the JAM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the game has officially started, everyone's making their own preparations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As if I'm posting something at a time other than 3 a.m. 
> 
> BASICALLY there's a lot of dialogue and interaction this chapter. I promise you I'll start writing all the action-y bits and ~saucy~ bits soon enough, it's just I'm doing my best to pace this, so I'm forcing myself to hold off until a bit later.
> 
> I reeeeally hope you all enjoy this chapter regardless!
> 
> (Also idk but I want to formally apologize for naming all the one-off characters random shit like 'Thug #2' or 'Mr. C', I just don't know what else to call them!)

**[Friday. 20:01. Best Friends]**

Oh. This dream again.

The one where he's still a child, sprinting as hard as he can on his small feet. He doesn't know why he's running or where he's going to, only that he can't stop.

So bright, so bright.

He's moving all alone in this blank white space.

.....no. Little by little, the others join him, running alongside him in a flurry of bright colours and childlike laughter that paint the surrounding emptiness. None of them can stop, but it's okay since no one can stop them, either.

It's okay. Since they're together.

They reach out to link hands, tiny fingers stained carmine red.

Bleeding and broken, but it's okay. It doesn't matter, since it doesn't hurt.

It does hurt, but it's fine.

It's fine.

They don't let go, even as the light fades, even as the darkness envelops them.

They don't stop running. Even as they break and crumble.

It hurts. It hurts.

Where is everyone?

Where is...

.

"Dai-chan! I brought food."

Momoi's voice pulls Aomine out of his dream: she is perhaps the only person who can enter his room unannounced and survive the experience unscathed. Without waiting for a reply, she climbs on top of Aomine's back and plops herself down, rustling through the plastic grocery bag on her lap.

"Did you think over the letter?"

"Uggggghh..................ya know, Satsuki..."

Aomine grumbles sleepily, disoriented from having his sleep disturbed so unceremoniously. This  damn woman never lets him rest...

"Yesterday you said 'job offer', but this just a fucking mandatory summons, yeah?"

"Yesterday? That was two days ago, Dai-chan..."

Momoi shifts her position on Aomine's back. Aomine can't see her face, but he knows she's almost definitely wearing a criticizing expression.

"Whatever. Get your ass off me, you're heavy- MMMPH."

 Not sure what he expected: Momoi uncrosses her legs to shove Aomine's face into a pillow with her foot. After a brief struggle, Aomine reaches back to swat Momoi's ankle out of the way, then pushes her off himself. He sits up next to her, resting his back against the wall.

"So? You're going to do it, right?"

"Not like any of us have much of a choice..." Aomine yawns openly, stretching his neck to the side and massaging a knot out of it with his left hand.

 "But why's he makin' the call to the 'Miracles' after all this time? It's been like four years, so why now?"

Momoi is quiet for a few moments, her head lowered so her hair hides her expression. Before Aomine can ask what she's thinking, she giggles.

"Does it make a difference? Both the challenge and the reward are too good for you-...for us to pass up."

Hmmm? Aomine can tell there's more than Satsuki's letting on. He's not sure if it's bothering her, but from the tone of her voice, there's something she wants to say reeeal bad.

"How's offing some rich brat considered a challenge..."

"He's not just any rich brat, Dai-chan, he's the heir to the Kagami Empire, hidden from the public until this year. Do some research for once?"

Research...that's what he has Momoi for.

"Besides...yesterday, a personal guard was hired to Kagami Jr. in addition to his other shields. It was like his security personnel had been informed of the call to the 'Miracles', so of course I looked into it."

"And?"

 Momoi brushes a lock of her hair behind her ear and turns to face Aomine, her eyes large and gleaming.

"It's Kuroko."

There it is.

"....Tetsu?!"

Momoi nods in affirmation, then narrows her eyes slightly as she mutters, almost to herself:

"That Aida woman must have hired him without realizing his full strength or involvement in all of this..."

The incredulity relaxes from Aomine's face as the young gun considers the meaning of this startling revelation.

So Tetsu's playing this game on the opposing side...?

Of course he is.

"That's quite the statement he's making. Is Tetsu planning on challenging us all?"

Momoi's lips curl into a soft smile, but her peachy pink eyes are glowing much more intently than Aomine has seen in a long time. She's still gonna hold back on speaking her mind, but it's fine. Aomine can pretty much guess what she wants out of this huge chore of a job.

Aomine can't say he's looking forward to this inevitable reunion, but it's not like he has anything better to do, anyways. And Momoi's all fired up as well, so..

 "Oh, that's right!"

The information broker claps her hands excitedly and holds up her plastic bag.

"I thought we could celebrate the start of the new game together! Let me use your kitchen, I'll fix us up some-"

".....no that's okay, Satsuki. Let's just go out. My treat."

No amount of Momoi's pouting can convince Aomine to suffer himself through her cooking, so after a ten minute struggle, they both head out to the nearest steakhouse.

Halfway towards the restaurant, a thought suddenly hits Aomine like a punch in the gut.

"Geh."

"Uwaaah, why are you making such an ugly face?"

"No, I just realized...if Tetsu is involved, then _that damn skank_ is going to be unbearable."

Momoi raises her eyebrows and opens her mouth to make a retort, then thinks better of it, and waits for Aomine to finish muttering.

"Ugh, I already have a headache. You know he's still carrying that fucking cross around like a scar...pisses me off."

"..........Dai-chan still isn't being honest with himself, how sad."

"Huh? Stop talking shit, Satsuki."

 

**[ Friday 21:12 'That Damn Skank' ]**

For someone who just learned some of the best news of his life some hours ago, Kise is not in a very good mood.

"You're not eating, Ryouta. Is the food not to your taste?"

Mr. C  asks this innocently, gesturing towards Kise's untouched lobster bisque as if he isn't fully aware that the young model's lack of appetite stems from his own company...

Kise responds with a cold, sullen glare. There are plenty things the young model would rather be doing with his Friday night (e.g. literally anything else), but right now he has no choice but to indulge this persistent bastard in his annoying conditions.  

"Ooh, unfriendly as ever, I see." 

Kise doesn't gain a shred of benefit from acting 'friendly' with this human hemorrhoid.

Seriously. Dealing with most people in this world is a huge pain, so even sitting through a late dinner like this with C is a trial.

However, as there's no one in the weapons trafficking business that's quite as reliable under such short notice, and Kise's circumstances are a bit urgent, well...he'll just have to endure this 'date' before conducting business.

At least the restaurant is nice. Tasteful decor, gracious staff, and  an exceptional menu selection--Kise's not so testy that he can't appreciate this.

C grins and takes a small sip of pinot blanc, never taking his mocking gaze off Kise for a second. Kise doesn't bother averting his eyes either.

Eat shit, old man.

"Your fans would cry if they found out about this hostile personality of yours."

No doubt.

But who isn't two-faced and deceptive these days....heh.

Kise continues to ignore the illicit arms dealer leering at him from the other side of the table, devoting his attention instead to the phone in his hand, which has buzzed several times with new messages.

_[M-san: You have a shoot early tomorrow morning, so make sur....._

_K: Just hurry up, you trashy airhead. I'll be waiti....._

_< 3 <3 P-chan <3 <3 :  I'm looking forward to our next appointment ^_^]_

C isn't just unperturbed by Kise's blatantly rude behaviour, he's enjoying it fully. He slices off another small bite of his steak, chewing carefully before piping up again with:

"Quite the popular one, aren't you... Was that your manager? A client from your _other_ job, or perhaps one of your many patrons?"

All three, actually.

Kise slips his phone back into his pocket and crosses his legs. He rests his hands on his knees, under the table, resisting the urge to play with his cross pendant.

"Always so busy, never settling down to one particular owner. Are you sure that's profitable for someone like you? After all, I've heard around that you're something of a collector's item--"

"I'm sure you know that's none of your fucking business," Kise replies coolly, his first words since he got to the restaurant. He would chastise himself for breaking his silence, but several lines have already been crossed, so...

"You've got ten more minutes to waste my time. Don't push it."

C pushes it anyways. After another fifteen minutes of one-sided banter, he finally sets his cutlery down with a clink and wipes his ungodly mouth with a cloth napkin.

"Well, thank you again for the lovely company. I enjoyed myself, as always."

C slides an expensive paper shopping bag over, looking for all the world like a sugar daddy gifting his young model paramour a new toy. To be fair, this image is a great cover for an illegal arms trade off, but it still pisses Kise off.

"I'll forward you the rest of the money tonight."

Kise accepts the bag, looking inside briefly to confirm its contents. He can't take it out for obvious reasons (though their table position is conveniently placed in a more private part of the restaurant), but he's dealt with C enough to trust him for a fair trade.

"Oh, no need. I'm more than happy to accept...more exciting forms of payment from you, Ryouta."

NOT!! A!! CHANCE!! IN!! HELL!!

The model slaps down five thousand yen to pay for his uneaten soup, then casts C one last icy glare before striding out of the building and into the chill night air.

AaaaaaaaaAAAAAAH.

What a fucking pain... That sadistic lech knows way too much, far more than Kise is comfortable with. 'Collector's item', who told him about that, anyways?  Jesus, so in this city, even a useless gun-selling pervert is well- connected enough to be privy to decades-old trivia.

...And would it kill him to stop trying to get into Kise's pants??

Ugh. No. It was worth it...all of it: now that Kise's equipped, he's almost completely ready.

The downtown streets are still humming with life, all bright sparkling lights and chatter and car fumes. This ambiance soothes Kise; with each step he takes, the tension from the previous exchange relaxes.

It's okay now. He can focus all his thoughts on this newest game.

Just wait a little longer....

~Kurokocchi~

 

**[Friday. 22:03. Blooming Romance].**

"Master Taiga--"

"Can you cut it with the 'master' stuff, it feels sarcastic coming from you."

".......Taig-......Kagami-kun, then."

"What."

"I'll be frank: can you hit me?"

"HUH?!"

"You're obviously well above average when it comes to physical prowess, but I need to test your strength."

"The fuck are you talking about, I'm not just going to randomly punch you."

"Would you feel better if I initiated?"

"Wait, wha- BASTARD, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING"

"Oh, I'm impressed you managed to dodge that. In that case, I won't hold back."

"KUROKO!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU"

"Please don't back away, Maste-...Kagami-kun, this is for your own well-being."

"STO- WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU."

 

**[Friday. 23:17. Nanodayo.]**

Oh my god, Shin-chan...

Any misgivings Takao may have had about tailing Midorima all the way out to this sketchy ass bar have dissolved now that he gets to behold the beautiful sight before his famed 'hawk' eyes.

Look at him. Does he think wearing dark sunglasses in a dimly lit room is going to make him less noticeable or something? How can he even see, did he wear contacts-....No... holy shit, he's actually wearing prescription shades.

Takao silently congratulates himself for going through with this. Shin-chan has been acting so obviously suspicious these past few days that, but made it so hilariously easy to follow him, that there was really no choice in the matter.

Peeking behind a stray menu, the assassin watches with mounting amusement as Midorima sets a troll doll on his table--must be today's lucky item for Cancers-- and sits back a chair with unnatural stiffness. He's causing a lot of people around him to watch him with shifty-eyes.

So conspicuous.

He must be waiting for someone: Shin-chan isn't the type to frequent these types of places on his own time. He's so out of his element that it's almost sad...almost.

A server saunters up to Midorima and presumably asks if he'd like something to drink, causing the sniper to stare at her blankly for a few moments. Takao, flexing his lip-reading ability, watches Midorima first push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, then reply  curtly with: "Oolong Highball".

PFFFF. How FANCY. Knowing Shin-chan, he probably wanted to order a water, but felt bad for the server's efforts. He's not actually going to drink it, is he...?

Takao does a quick scan of the room, making sure no one new has entered. Looks like Takao's meet up still hasn't arrived. Good, good.

The server ends up asking for Takao's order as well, so he quietly ask for a Caesar, while still hiding behind the menu, and continues to watch Midorima look oh so incredibly awkward. He's lucky this joint is so busy at this time of night, otherwise he'd really be standing out.

As he waits for his drink, Midorima rests his bandaged fingers on the table top, right next to that god-awful doll. Takao is faced with the real questions: where did he even find that thing...like, did he go out and buy it today, or did he always have something that weird in his possession...???

The lady comes back with the drinks and, for one fleeting, heart-stopping second, Takao is sure that Midorima looked directly his way. But judging from his lack of reaction, he still hasn't noticed. Takao takes a few cautious sips of his Caesar while keeping his gaze fully on Midorima. The important part is coming up right now....

After several minutes of hesitation, Midorima finally takes the glass into his hands. Slowly, slowly raises it to his lips. Takes a cautious sip. Slowly, slowly lowers the glass and pushes it a little too far away from himself. All the while, the sniper is keeping up a stoic face, but Takao's trained eye can tell how he really feels.

 The assassin is so busy choking back his own laughter, he's almost startled by the sudden presence that moves past him, an average-looking middle aged man that sits right across from Midorima. He seems to have a slip of paper in his hands...?

That must be the meet-up. Well, fun's over: Takao has no intention of actually snooping in on Shin-chan's ~secret plans~. He quickly drains the rest of his drink, leaves some money on the table, then discreetly sees himself out.

The assassin shoves his hands into his coat pockets and strolls his way down the dark street. For about a couple minutes, at least,  until his honed survival instinct kicks in and he whips his head around to see:

"Shin-chan....?"

Midorima is standing at the entrance of the bar, holding a bottle firmly in his left hand.

"Hahaha, oh, no I wasn't-OK OK OK"

Takao takes off as soon as he comprehends the situation, but it's futile: Midorima never misses.

The bottle inevitably clips Takao's foot and brings him down onto the pavement.

"WAHA T_T "

This gives Midorima enough time to cover the thirty meter distance and grab his partner by the scruff of the shirt, pulling him up.

"Relax, Shin-cha--!! Ahh, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was worried about you, but I left as soon as that guy came to see you."

The sniper glares for a few moments (or Takao assumes he's glaring: he's still wearing the sunglasses), then releases Takao with a long sigh.

"It's unpleasant to have my personal life invaded."

Takao laughs sheepishly, but still pats Midorima on the back with his usual enthusiasm.

"You're right, you're right. that was my bad. But hey,"

Here, Takao stands on his toes so he can drape his arm over Midorima's shoulders and bring him down to a more reasonable level.

"I don't know what's been going on lately, but if you ever need any help, don't hesitate to ask me, 'kay?"

"................................................tha-......HMPH. Don't be ridiculous. Why would I need to-"

"Okay, okay. I get it, you just let me know when you need me. Come on, I'll buy you red bean soup as an apology."

Takao debates asking about the troll doll, but decides there are some things better left unknown.

 

**[Friday. 23:24. Poker Face Part I]**

"Well, well, now that I look closely...you're quite the pretty one, aren't ya?"

The gunman sneers menacingly, sidling up uncomfortably close to Himuro. He smoothes his ash-coloured hair back with one hand, and uses the other to grab Himuro's chin and turn his head roughly to face his own.

"Then why are ya hiding your face? Let's see here..." 

He flicks his tongue over his lips before twisting them into a sadistic smirk, as he runs his hand up Himuro's cheek. Without hesitation, he brushes back the dark bangs covering Himuro's left eye.

 "Haizaki...Shougo, was it?"  Tatsuya replies without flinching, deadpan as always.

Haizaki's mouth twitches a little and he takes a step back, clicking his tongue with annoyance. His previously shit-eating expression has turned into quite the impressive scowl.

He readjusts the collar of his black shirt before snapping:

"Huh. So what the fuck's a walking Ichimatsu doll doing here??"

Himuro has been likened to a 'lifeless doll' more times than he can count, but this is definitely a first.

He straightens out his own clothes and brushes them off.

"I wasn't looking for you, but I guess you'll do. I have a couple questions..."

**[Saturday. 02:11. Poker Face Part II ]**

Himuro is dead tired by the time he makes it back to the apartment. After ensuring all seven locks on the door are secure, he stumbles through the kitchen, down the hall, and finally makes it to the bedroom.

In the past twelve hours, it doesn't look like Atsushi's left the house at all, but at least he's moved himself onto a proper bed. An improvement from the kitchen floor, in any case.

Too exhausted to undress or worry about sleeping space, Himuro brushes the pile of candy wrappers off the sheets and flops himself down next to Murasakibara's sleeping form. He grabs the only pillow that isn't currently being crushed by his partner, and buries his face into it.

In the end, he still hasn't found out what he really wants to know. About Taiga and the Miracles....well, it's not really any of his business, is it? It's not, but he can't deny he wants to get involved for his own personal reasons.

A problem for the morning; for now, he sleeps.

............or not.

Without warning, Murasakibara's giant arm reaches out over Himuro's shoulders and turns his body towards himself, pulling him into his chest. Dangerously close.

Wh-wh.-whaA?!

"Atsushi...?"

As startled and confused as Himuro is, right now he's mostly struggling to think of something aside from the feeling of Murasakibara's long fingers pressed between his shoulder blades, or the fact that his face is mere centimeters away from Atsushi's chest.

"Muro-chin.....you went out...?"

"M-..mmm. I just got back."

So warm...

"You smell like Haizaki."

Of course he can tell; he might be a lethargic mess, but nothing gets past 'the Reaper'. 

Himuro finds he's been holding his breath, so he exhales slowly before responding:

"Yeah, I met him by accident today, while I was trying to figure some stuff out. He wasn't very helpful, though."

..If the fresh bruise forming on Himuro's ribcage is anything to go by; damn, that Haizaki bastard packs a hard punch. Though he did end up revealing some interesting information later on, Himuro is starting to wonder if he should've talked to him in the first place. 

It's difficult to gauge Murasakibara's reaction when he can't even see his face.

"Should I..not have?"

Perhaps it's just Himuro's imagination , but it feels as though Murasakibara's hold on him tightens a little.

As much as Himuro would love to relax ~~in the arms of his precious Atsushi~~ , the feat is too much. He squeezes his eyes shut and waits for an answer to his question. He can feel the blood rushing to his face (because of the warmth! It's so hot in here, haha, that's why!!), so he's glad at least his face is hidden.

After a long, long pause, Murasakibara finally mumbles:

"Muro-chin is really troubled by that Kagami kid, riiiight? .....I have to find him anyways, so don't.......go off.....on your............................................."

"Atsushi??"

Did he just.... in the middle of that crucial response.........

....fall asleep mid-sentence?!?

 

**[Saturday. 04:01. *Mozart's _Lacrimosa_ Plays in the Background Ominously*]**

Akashi starts by unbuttoning his shirt, slipping the fabric off his shoulders and letting it fall onto floor.

Next: his pants, which prove slightly more difficult to remove with only one hand. Then his underwear (silk boxers, naturally) and socks (black dress socks). He leaves all his clothes in a pile on the ground and, finally, leaves his pocket watch by the bathroom sink.

Akashi's feet pad silently against cold tile as he steps into the shower. He sets the water to a cool temperature and lets it roll off his skin, washing away the blood from his hands and face. His head is bowed, and he watches the diluted red colour swirl and disappear down the drain.

After he's made sure to cleanse his body thoroughly, Akashi shuts the water off and heads towards the bath. The porcelain tub is already brimming with hot water, ready to go.

He tests the temperature with his foot once, twice, before stepping in and immersing himself in the dizzying warmth. He rests like that, with his wrists elegantly poised at either edge of the bath.

So.

Now that all the pieces are on the board, the long wait is finally coming to an end. It's been four years since they all left Hell, and now...it's time to meet again.

So close.

Akashi shuts his eyes for a moment and, even if it's only for a short time, he sleeps for the first time in weeks.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao sorry this took me longer to update, though I guess that's approximately the rate I'll be doing things from now on.  
> (Kise was giving me grief and i'm still not 100% sold on the outcome but iT'S FINE I GUESS)
> 
> also Fun fact #1: Riko's informants are Mitobe and Koganei lmao. Idk if I'll put them in the actual fic, but just fyi all their report meetings are like
> 
> Riko: did you get the information on Satsuki Momoi like I asked?
> 
> Koganei: >:3C i'll let Mitobe handle this one
> 
> Mitobe: "...................................."
> 
> Koganei: and there u have it
> 
> Riko: ...just give me the fucking file.
> 
> Fun Fact #2: Akashi was using scented bathsalts because in my heart he's a dainty mafia princess


	4. Chapter 3- It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over Buzzer Beater Mind-State

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are heating up, slowly but surely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me...so much longer than I anticipated omg I rewrote everything like 700 times and I'm still not sure about it orz
> 
> Forgive me for the delay, and for any typos (it's 6:40 a.m. and I....haven't slept in so long and I've been writing all day wahaaa), and for anything else. 
> 
> ANYWAYS, AS ALWAYS I HOPE YOU ENJOY.

**[Saturday. 03:23.  Unbelievable Part I]**

 

The way those hot sleepy fingertips just barely touch the skin of his exposed back, where his shirt had ridden up; the sensation of those long arms wrapped around him, clinging like a child.

The soft murmur of Murasakibara's voice tickling the side of Himuro's neck.

"You're so warm, Muro-chin."

That's not fair play at all. He dozes off for like an hour, and _this_ is what he wakes up to?

Himuro tries to swallow, but his throat is too dry.

At times like this, when Tatsuya's too overwhelmed to defend against these brutal attacks on his already shoddy self-control, the smartest course of action is to get up and cool off with a nice cold shower.

"Yeah," he whispers back, neither getting up nor cooling off, instead opting to run his fingers through the tangled mess of Murasakibara's violet hair. Atsushi responds with a satisfied hum, which further incites a now unrestrained, over-tired Himuro to guide his hand along to the other man's shoulder, then push him back until they're facing each other.

"It's hot."

Ahh, this is hell.

He tries so hard to keep himself in check, to avoid taking advantage of this volatile human weapon, or slipping up and causing irreparable damage to himself, to Masako or Atsushi. But even Himuro has a breaking point, and this isn't the first time he's reached it, either.

Maybe one day he'll be able to say out loud everything he feels without restraint, but for now he'll just steal a taste....

He brushes his thumb against the slightly frowning lower lip, then presses gently until Atsushi obediently opens his mouth so that Himuro may slide the rest in even further. Murasakibara is watching him all the while with half-lidded eyes, somehow appearing both demure and sinister at the same time.

Himuro tilts his jaw forward and moves in to...

Well, it doesn't matter what he moves in to do, as he's interrupted by the sound of rapid gunfire at the front door.

 

**[Saturday. 03:47.  Unbelievable Part II]**

 

A mistake has been made.

Man F realizes he has fucked up around the time Murasakibara Atsushi's massive hand makes contact with his face: nothing like some broken bones to get him to seriously reflect on the error of his ways.  

The force of impact sends F flying into the nearest wall. His body crumples to the floor, where he lies gasping for breath as warm blood gushes from his nose.  Either from the excruciating pain or the blunt head trauma, but to Man F's fading vision it looks as though the killer looming before him is surrounded by a menacing deep violet miasma.

...Okay, several mistakes have been made. For one, Man F wouldn't have had to come across this fucking purple abomination if he hadn't foolishly trusted _that fucking dickhead_ , who just conveniently forgot to mention that the apartment of the so-called "easy target" belongs to none other than the Araki Group's infamous Reaper...

"He ....fucked us over.... that basta..rd...put us up to it.....we didn't...know..."  Man F manages to cough out, blood dripping down his chin as he struggles to pick himself up. Before he can explain himself further, Man F's words yield to an agonized cry as Murasakibara digs his heel into the fallen man's groin.

"Huuhhh?? I don't care," Murasakibara hisses, increasing pressure with little stomps.

"You killed my fridge. How are you going to make up for that?"

 _That's_ what he takes issue with?!

Not the armed break-in, or the attempt on his life-

"I'M SORRY" Man F screams, rather sincerely. But Murasakibara isn't in the mood to hear apologies, not when the corpse of his massacred kitchen appliance lies useless and riddled with bullet holes.

"Ahh, settle down, Atsushi," says the Reaper's companion from the side, where he is handling F's comrade, G. He's not as immediately recognizable as Murasakibara, but there's something uncomfortably familiar about the elegant dark-haired, undereye mole beauty queen man currently striking G across the face with the back of a Glock 19. Someone's feeling a bit aggressive today...

F would try and get a closer look, but he is getting his ass handed to him by a nightmare human, which is distracting to say the least.

"We can't find out what our guests want if you play too roughly... ahhh, oops. I got blood on my shirt..."

To Man F's surprise, Murasakibara relents immediately, pulling back with a slight pout. F crawls backwards quickly until his back hits a cabinet under the kitchen sink.

Who is this mystery man, that not only addresses this monster so familiarly, but actually gets him to obey...

"Mmmm, I already know what they want. They're a message from Haiz-...."

Murasakibara pauses mid-sentence, then pulls out his phone and just stays quiet while he focuses on that.

"Atsushi...?"

"Mmm, one sec, Muro-chin. I just gotta let Sa-chin know about this, 'cause she told me she'd get me a box of okonomiyaki Maiubo next time she goes to Osaka if I.."

The killer continues to ramble on about things Man F doesn't understand. The only thing that's sticking so far is Muro-chin.....Muro......

An ominous shudder passes through Man F before he fully realizes why, though his answer comes soon enough, in the form of mystery man lifting his blood spattered shirt up enough to reveal what is unmistakably the tattoo of a black dragon etched against his white skin.

The realization hits Man F like a brick: Muro... _Hi_ muro Tatsuya, Madame Araki Masako's notorious 'pet dragon'.

Which is just great, really. The Dragon and The Reaper live together in this humble happy home F and G were told to attack, like sacrificial lambs sent as some shitty human warning message.

That's it, if Man F makes it out of this alive ... and honestly, if either of these two _wanted_ him dead, he'd be fucking dead...he's fucking quitting this shitty criminal life and going back to school. Become a welder or something, he doesn't have the nerves to suffer through this again.

Well, before anything, he needs to buy Murasakibara a new refrigerator.

 

**[Saturday. 07:09. The Best Way To  A Man's Heart Is Through His Stomach]**

 

"Ah."

Kuroko awakens to the smell of food wafting in from an open door. What an unfamiliar phenomenon...

The bodyguard finds himself sitting up on the floor of Kagami Taiga's bedroom, his back pressed up against a part of the wall directly under a window. He blinks a few times, adjusting his eyes to the few strays of morning light peeking from beneath drawn blinds; he's a bit disoriented by the fact that he managed to fall asleep after all.

Three whole hours, at that. How rare.

Conditioned from a young age to sleep lightly and in unnatural positions, Kuroko picks himself up off the ground rather gracefully. He stretches his joints out, pulling his hand back only to be greeted by the sharp, throbbing pain in his right wrist: proof of the punch he had finally managed to coax out of the young master last night.

Though the hit was blocked in the end, and clearly nowhere near Taiga's full strength, Kuroko still can't help but smile fondly at his bruised arm: there is hope of teamwork here yet...

The bodyguard tucks his knife back into his pants' pocket (he never falls asleep without at least a weapon at the ready for worst case scenarios), then proceeds to step out the room and make his way to the kitchen, following the trail of that delicious smell.

In the kitchen area, he finds Kagami Taiga, young master and heir to the Kagami Empire, hard at work wielding a frying pan full of sizzling sliced pork and vegetables. Soup and white rice have already been prepared and set aside on the kitchen table.

The real treat here is how...domestic Kagami looks, with the black apron draped over his tall, muscular frame, hands busy preparing an unnecessarily heavy breakfast.

"Good morning."

"Oh, mornin'-- geh, what's with the ridiculous bedhead? You didn't even sleep in a bed..."

Kuroko doesn't feel the need to respond to this. Having confirmed Kagami's safety, he does a quick check around the rest of spacious apartment, including the balcony and the outer hall. He also checks in with the guards stationed in the surrounding area of the apartment complex to see if anything abnormal has gone by unreported in the past few hours.

All clear.

So no one's making any hasty moves yet. Biding their time, perhaps they've matured...

After trying and failing to contact Aida Riko, Kuroko moseys on back into the kitchen, perching onto a nearby stool and silently continues to watch Kagami. The young heir is looking down, his brows furrowed and mouth turned down in a slight frown as he tends to his stir fry, just about finished. It's difficult to tell whether he's feeling or troubled or if he's simply focused on the task in front of him.

Somehow, to see him make such an expression...

Of course, it's only natural for the young heir to be stressed out in his current situation. In fact, after Kagami's initial bout of rebellious beahviour subsided, he's been surprisingly adaptive and well-behaved. He may grumble constantly that he doesn't need a 24-hour guard, but not once has raised a question about the arrangement.

Perhaps he really does know...

There was something Miss Aida had offhandedly told Kuroko shortly after his employment into the Kagami family, and her words are coming back up again for some reason:

"People have been dragging Taiga into their affairs ever since he was a small child, only to abandon or lie to him afterwards. I haven't known him for that long, and he comes off as a fucking idiot...but I can tell it really wears on him."

At the time, Kuroko hadn't thought much of it, but now he finds himself reflecting on his own ulterior motives for involving himself with the young heir. He hadn't expected Kagami Taiga to end up being so honest and so...

"...what."

"I'm sorry?"

"You're staring at me...do you have a problem?"

"Ah, I'm just impressed to see that Mast-..Kagami-kun can even cook for himself."

Kagami squints at Kuroko, visibly suspicious, and raises his spatula threateningly.

"...Are you making fun of me?"

"Not at all."

"Ah! You looked away!!"

"Please, Kagami-kun. There's no need to be so noisy in the morning; you're hurting my ears."

"Damn you, Kuroko...."

Kagami scowls as he slides a bowl of rice and a plateful of his cooking over to Kuroko, leaving his bodyguard to marvel at how his charge expects him to eat so much food this early in the day.

A hot home cooked meal...

Kuroko utters his gratitude in a soft voice before digging in.

 

**[Saturday. 11:45 . It's Not Like I Care Or Anything Part I]**

 

"Aawww, what's this? You're reading all the files I gave you! I knew this game would finally get Dai-chan interested in something other than himself."

"Do you really have to- Geh. What are you all dressed up for? Don't tell me someone's actually made the mistake of asking you out on a da-MMMMF"

"^_^ Actually, I've made plans to meet up with Ki-chan!"

"Wh-............ Wow. Isn't that great."

"Yep, and you're coming with me."

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuh?! Don't wanna."

"Hmmm.... but weren't you saying last night how much you miss him?"

"The fuc-....Oi. Satsuki."

"What, am I wrong? But if Dai-chan needs to keep hiding from reality, you can just wait outside until we're done talking. :) "

".....uhh, why the fuck should I? I have nothing to say to him, and his face just fucking pisses me off."

_"....Isn't that what they call sexual frustration?"_

"What was that?"

"I said, 'I wasn't going to mention this, but since you're being problematic I have no choice. Muk-kun texted me this morning with some _very_ interesting news about a certain old...teammate of ours.'"

"What..."

 

**[Saturday. 11:48. Enter Trashman]**

 

Haizaki Shougo sneezes violently into the crook of his arm, the fifth one today.

Someone must be talking shit.

 

**[Saturday. 12:12. Reconnaissance]**

 

"Hey, Shin-chan," Takao begins cautiously, adjusting his focus as he peers through the lenses of his binoculars.

"I'm glad you decided to rely on me so soon, but uhh...is there a special reason we're doing recon of one of the major Kagami Corp. buildings?"

"Fool. Don't ask questions you already know the answer to" is the curt reply. As expected...

Takao isn't sure whether he should be worried or not (he really should), but he feels it's better to just shake off the dark instinctual sense of foreboding and enjoy the pleasant afternoon breeze.

Whatever happens, he can tell it's going to be _very_ entertaining.

"Well?"

"Ahhh, it's hard to say. The windows are bullet-resistant and at this distance, even if you could--..."

As Takao dips his view down to the ground level, two very colourful somethings catch his eye.

"Oh... Hey!"

"What is it?"

 "Those people ...aren't they your friends or whatever? The two we met last year at the...that thing?"

Midorima frowns deeply, very clearly unsettled by the mention of 'friends'.

"What are you blabbering about ..."

"You know, the flashy crying guy and the pink girl with the" [hand motion over chest].

"WHAT."

Midorima snatches the binoculars from Takao's hands in a panic, his bandaged fingers shaking. After a few silent moments, he lets out an irritable hiss: looks like he's found them.

"Tch. Causing a scene together, as always."

Shin-chan seems rather frazzled... Takao accepts this as a gift, and observes happily as Midorima peers down at whoever those people are, muttering petulantly under his breath. Those two must be something special to get him to lose his composure like this.

Sadlly the amusement is short-lived:

"Uhhmm, you guys can't be here?"

So says the security guard of the public library rooftop Midorima and Takao are currently sitting on, and so the two assassins are forced to apologize and humbly take their leave.

 

**[Saturday. 12:14. Absolutely Flawless]**

 

A brief hush falls upon the patrons of this expensive café, and everyone turns their heads in unison to get a better look at the couple of rare beauties passing by.

The woman is clad in a simple pastel blue sundress that falls just above her knees, leaving the rest of her lovely legs exposed. She carries herself lightly and with grace; her long, rose-coloured hair flows behind her as she walks. Her soft mouth, curved into a sweet smile that betrays only the slightest hint of mischief, does not go unnoticed by the watchful restaurant patrons.

Her companion is equally radiant: tall, with a slender (though still muscular) build, silky blonde hair, and well-dressed to boot . He's sporting red-rimmed glasses that poorly mask a pretty face with delicate features. Actually, he does look a bit familiar...

Especially dazzling under the bright rays of the afternoon sun, the unreasonably good-looking pair take their seats outside on the patio, chatting together quietly in some foreign tongue, which only strengthens their appeal.

"What could those two possibly be discussing? Where are they from?? What is the nature of their relationship???" This is the nature of questions circulating amongst the customers and staff of the coffee shop.

The two just take relaxed sips of their respective beverages (black coffee for the lady, vanilla latte for the man), _seemingly_ indifferent to the sudden influx of excited whispers their every move incurs from the people around them.

"....Maybe we should have met up somewhere a little less...busy" Kise remarks dryly, eyeing the blatant stares from the surrounding tables.

"Haha it's fine, it's fine. As far as I can tell, no one here understands Russian, and the crowd will give us cover in case anything happens" Momoi chirps happily, though Kise detects a slight edge of weariness in her voice. They're both used to this kind of treatment, and usually it's not a problem, but somehow the ogling is always ten times worse when they're together.

So beautiful, it's a curse...

"Besides," Momoi begins with a tilt of her pink head, peering up at Kise cheekily.

"Isn't Ki-chan always operating under the public eye? Even doing business with the likes of C in broad daylight, from what I hear. How bold!"

"Wahaaaa~, and you're as scary as ever, Momocchi. Really, nothing gets past you."

Momoi takes this as a compliment.

"Hehe. But I'm surprised you were willing to give him the time of day. To go to such lengths...you must be in a hurry to start things."

"Of course I am... I've been waiting so long for this moment, to be called out with everyone again. And now that Kurokocchi's gone and broken the rules...I just..."

"You're hoping to talk him out of it." Momoi concludes, sitting back against her chair. She twists a strand of her hair around her index finger, regarding Kise expectantly.

"Mmm...something like that. But Kurokocchi can be crazy stubborn once he's made his mind up. So if he's taking this seriously, then I can't help but get fired up, even if it means putting up with...shit."

Kise sighs, resting his chin on his hands, and flicks his dark golden eyes up at Momoi.

"What about Momocchi? Seems like your challenges have got you ready for blood, too. That Aida Riko is right up your alley, right? In more ways than one..."

Momoi's lips purse into a guilty smile as she is reminded that she's not the only dangerously shrewd one here. Perhaps from their equally undying love for Kuroko Tetsuya, and from sharing such skills as super-analysis, effortless seduction, and obfuscating naïveté, Momoi and Kise have also developed an intuitive understanding of each other's 'tastes' and 'preferences'.

The difference is that Momoi's directly interfering with Kise's sex life, though it's unlikely that he's caught on.

"She's certainly more troublesome than I ever could have hoped. She's getting uncomfortably close to finding out about us, but I set up a nice tr- ooh, that looks so good!"

Kise looks over as well, and the two watch as a cherry cheesecake is served two tables away. Being stared at by not one, but two angels is a bit too much for the blushing recipient of said cheesecake to handle.

"Ahh, but I shouldn't be eating so much sugar..."

"Did you want to split one?"

"Oooh, okay!"

They continue to chatter in Russian, despite not having anything more clandestine to say, until their dessert arrives. Momoi immediately plucks off the cherry from the top and pops it into her mouth. Delicious.

"By the way," Kise sinks his tiny fork into the cheesecake and eats the bite slowly before continuing, dropping his voice to a disparaging tone.

"How long is Aominecchi going to lurk in the shop across from us? I think he's scaring off some of their customers..."

Momoi can't hold back a snort of laughter, though she recovers with an airy giggle and dismissive wave of her hand.

"Don't worry about Dai-chan, he's just feeling shy. He'll come around, I'm sure."

Kise makes a tiny skeptical noise, but doesn't press any further.

He'll have to deal with this on his own, nothing new.

 

**[Saturday. 12:44. It's Not Like I Care Or Anything Part II]**

 

Ugh, that's right. Those two get along annoyingly well...

Aomine shoves an absurd quantity of noodles into his mouth without looking, too busy glaring at the scene that's developing at the coffee shop across the street.

God, are they _trying_ to draw attention to themselves? Honestly. When it comes to attracting crowds (along with all sorts of unsavoury people), Momoi and Kise individually are bad enough. The result of their combined forces is that much more frustrating.

...it's no wonder their missions were so successful when they were paired together, back in the day. Damn pretty- boys and... whatever the appeal of Momoi is...(???)

Aomine's noodle-devouring becomes more aggressive with each passing moment, alarming all nearby customers. As if he let Momoi fool him into coming this far, with those 'Haizaki Shougo on the move again' scare tactics. That asshole isn't even really a threat, so enough of this bullshit. Once Aomine finishes this meal, he's fucking going home to stare at his beloved Mai-chan and maybe take a nap.

The man himself is unsure as to where all this annoyance is coming from.

.........................he for sure.........has no idea.......

Not a single clue.

His phone vibrates, so he picks it out with his left hand (while still feeding himself with the right), to read:

_[Satsuki: Lol he's already noticed you. Stop being pathetic and just come out to say hi.]_

A vein in Aomine's temple throbs.

Definitely going straight home after this.

 

**[Saturday. 12:47. Scar #33]**

 

Ahh, that smarts.

Riko grits her teeth and tightens her grip around the steering wheel, willing herself to ignore the jarring pain in her shoulder. She's leaning forward so as not to dirty the car, but it's meaningless, really, what with half-conscious Koganei bleeding out in the passenger's seat.

She had known that following the sketchy information trail attached to the name Momoi Satsuki would lead to danger, but she hadn't anticipated being attacked in broad daylight, only moments after hearing mere slivers of information about 'Miracles.'

Still. These wounds are mere scratches compared to all the hits Riko's taken for the Kagami Family. And a little dry-cleaning and a couple band-aids (okay, so Koga _might_ need some more...advanced medical attention, but he's fine) is a small price to pay for the crucial leads Riko gained today.

Her intuition had been right: there really _is_ a connection between all the killers and criminals hired to come after young master Taiga. But there are still too many unknowns for Riko to begin to understand why this is happening.

Sure, there are plenty of people and groups who would love to get their hands on the young heir, motives ranging from ransom money or blackmail, to a grudge against the father, to culling this random heir that they feel does not deserve the inheritance. Typical stuff, really.

But with Kagami Taiga, there is an added element of what happened during his...messy childhood, the reason why he's been hidden until now, and the groundbreaking power his fiery red head holds. It's only natural for those privy to this knowledge to try and take action. To use the young master, or to silence him.

And these people are all those who have hired one of the five...no, six including Momoi...big names. So what does _that_ mean, if anything? 

Riko intends to answer all these questions soon, though it means she'll be shedding more blood yet.

"Nooo....too many...pigeons......nya..." Koganei mumbles feverishly, convincing Riko to stop mulling over conspiracies and just apply more pressure to the gas pedal.

Hang in there, Koga, buddy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgive me, akashi, my sweet pink heterochromic yan mafia princess...you weren't in this chapter, but i will do right by you yet 
> 
> also not that anyone asked, but i'm dying to write saucy scenes for dark blue tsundere doof x blonde fake ass ho, but alas, pacing or whatever that thing is called that i'm bad at 
> 
> also also today's shitty chapter title brought to you by: select, but not necessarily relevant line from PI's 'In the Zone'
> 
> LMAO I WANT TO APOLOGIZE FOR EVERYTHING I'M SO SLEEP DEPRIVED AND BLESS YOU ALL FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY BS


	5. Chapter 4- GET'CHA HEAD IN THE GAME

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh spaghettio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAA idk why writing this chapter was so excruciatingly slow it took me 5ever to write and for this I AM SORRY.  
> and again, sorry for any typos or quality issues and I RLLY HOPE YOU ENJOY this chapter too me seven years to finish (sobs)

**[Saturday. 12:49. Forgive Me ]**

All good things must come to an end, as the smitten public in this café know all too well; they look on tearfully, sighing with collective disappointment when the dangerously good-looking pair finally take their leave. Though they depart now, perhaps the beauties will one day return to grace the shop once more with their presence...one can only hope.

"Th-thank you for your patronage! **_Please_** come again!!!"

Back out on the street, Momoi and Kise get ready to part ways.

"Geez, that Dai-chan...he actually took off," Momoi sighs, shaking her head apologetically. It's not like she hadn't been expecting this, but come on. At this rate, she'll have to leave it to Ki-chan, and though Momoi gets it, she's concerned the model may be too consumed with thoughts of Tetsu-kun and the game to give Dai-chan a proper 'challenge' (so to speak).

...Or not. One side glance at Kise's profile is enough to dispel most of Momoi's worries: yeah, that's a nice expression he's got there.

"Oh, I doubt he's gone far," the model mutters in an uncharacteristically dark tone, staring fixedly on something in the distance. After a pause, he snaps his gaze back momentarily to Momoi and flashes her one last farewell grin.

"Thanks for today, Momocchi. I'm sure we'll talk soon."

"Take care, Ki-chan!"

Momoi waves goodbye, then turns to start walking in the opposite direction.

A large part of her hopes that Ki-chan succeeds in coming through to Tetsu-kun tonight, but....well, realistically....

It takes her a solid half hour to reach her next destination, as she makes a point of dipping through back alleys and secret short cuts to get to the more _unsavoury_ part of this cesspool of a city.

Finally, at the end of a long string of dilapidated buildings and deserted houses, lies an old, rundown Catholic church. Judging from the shattered stain glass windows, the vulgar graffiti splattered across the walls, and the layers of grime that have accumulated around the grounds, it would appear that this church hasn't been in use for a long, long time.

After a quick check of her surroundings (doesn't look like she's been followed), Momoi pushes past the heavy oak wood doors and enters the building.

The air inside is dusty and stale, as expected, the floor littered with dirt, cobwebs, and is...that a dirty condom?  Not to mention the rat that Momoi's pretty sure is crawling out by the long-unused altar...still, she's too struck with a wave of nostalgia to be particularly bothered.

Even all dark and abandoned, places like these always remind her of the old days, with Tetsu-kun and Dai-chan, when the three of them would sneak out and hide between the pews of the orphanage chapel a lifetime ago...

A small cough from the far left side  interrupts Momoi's sentimentality, a signal to the information broker that it's time for an update.

She takes a seat in the confessional booth, and as she does so, the screen between compartments slides open.

"Sakurai-kun. What an interesting rendez-vous point you chose. But did we have to talk through the confessional, or-"

"S-sorry. I didn't want to be followed so I... and, in case anyone sees...in any case I'm really sorr-"

"O-oh, no, no it's fine. So? What do you have for me?"

"Sorry. She ended up taking the bait, but before I could do anything, some third party group moved in and attacked."

Whoah whoah whoah.

What.

"Sor-...I mean, what's this?"

"I'M SORRY. I'm really really sorry."

"No, it's okay, Sakur-"

"-So sorry-"

"It's oka-"

"Sorry. I didn't plan ahead for that kind of situation."

"It's not your fault, you don't need to apolo-"

"SORRY. I DIDN'T CONTACT YOU EARLIER BECAUSE THE INCIDENT MADE ME PARANOID AND I WAITED TO MAKE SURE I WASN'T BEING FOLLOWED, SO I'M SORRY I AM WORTHLESS AND INCOMPETENT"

Having to deal with the likes of Aomine for about two decades has certainly helped Momoi develop a hardy patience, but she isn't sure she'll ever be advanced enough to properly handle the mess that is alias Sakurai Ryou.

"Sakurai-kun, you didn't do anything wrong. Is there anything else you can tell me about what happened?"

"Sorry. There was another guy with her, he looked kind of stupid. Got shot in the right shoulder."

"A subordinate?"

"Most likely."

"How's Aida, then?"

"They clipped her, but she was able to drive away in time."

"And the assailants, what did they look like?"

"They drove past in a black SUV, I couldn't get a proper look. I'm sorr-"

" You did a good job, I'll look into the rest of that later today and contact you after that. Thanks for your hard work!"

Momoi escapes before Sakurai takes the opportunity to squeeze another hundred apologies.

What a troubling development...

Could it be something to do with Muk-kun's news earlier this morning, or is it something else entirely....?

Whoever it is, how dare they get in the way of her fight with Aida Riko. Since Ki-chan's working hard tonight, Momoi must also step her game up.

Speaking of Ki-chan...Momoi wonders how Dai-chan is holding up...

 

**[Saturday. 13:03. Just So We're Clear, That Is A Gun In My Pocket And I'm Not Happy To See You]**

By the time Aomine realizes the warm weather is getting to him, he's already made it halfway home, with his shirt clinging to the sweaty skin of his back, and his head and throat suffering from sharp dehydration pains. Probably should have reconsidered walking home under this sun in a black shirt, but it's too late for regrets now.

_For some reason,_ Aomine was too preoccupied to notice all this until now.

Luckily, an oasis in the form of a vending machine is close at hand. Aomine heads straight to it, rifling through his pants' pockets for loose change. He wants Aquarius, but what kind should he get...

Aomine slips the money through a slot, and presses the button for his desired sports drink, and...

Hm. Presses it again.

....one more time.

.................six more times, very rapidly.

Inhales deeply, then tries another button. Nothing.

Okay. If that's how things are going to be, then it's time to change tactics. Gripping either side of the vending machine, Aomine begins channeling his rapidly- growing rage through his hands. He gets in a ready stance, about to show this damned contraption exactly who it's dealing with.

However, before Aomine even has the chance to engage in battle, a hand suddenly reaches under his arm and makes a selection.

A bottle of mineral water immediately drops down from its holding place, and the difference in change rattles out: transaction complete.

".....................God _damnit_ Kise.."

"Hey, Aominecchi~. Long time no see."

Ahh..

That voice...this is a hundred times worse than he imagined it would be.

Aomine turns around, dark blue eyes narrowed menacingly to glower at the _real fucking problem_ beaming back at him.

"'Hey~' my ass. Do you wanna die? You'd better buy me my drink right now."

"Ehhhh?? That's what you have to say aft-...ah ! He walked away! Aoooomineeeecchiiii waiiit!!!"

There's a bench sitting under the shade of a bus stop some fifty meters away, and this is where Aomine waits, legs outstretched, for Kise to catch up.

There's really no chance of running away now, huh...

No non ono . What? It's not like that. It's ..not. Like. That.

Before Aomine has the chance to settle his thoughts, Kise is already bouncing back, equipped with a clear plastic bottle.

"Here!" the model chirps, tossing the drink into the air for Aomine to catch. He remains standing, siding himself next to the bench...close enough that Aomine can smell the faint scent of his cologne.

"Tch. Why'd you get me lemon flavour..."

"You left before telling me what you wanted!"

Aomine freezes. Hearing Kise say those words, even out of context and in that playful, pouty tone, is momentarily jarring, for reasons he doesn't fully want to understand. He recovers quickly by twisting the top off his blissfully cool bottle and drains half the contents in one go.

"Oh, you're drinking it anyways..."

"So?  What do you want."

The corners of Kise's mouth twitch, and he leans his shoulder against the metal post next to the bench before responding:

"....You were there earlier, right?"

Geh.

"This is the first time in years Aominecchi has come close to me, of course I'm going to take the opportunity to see you."

Ah fuck.

Aomine shifts, so that his body is facing slightly away from Kise, and flips the bottle in his hand nonchalantly.

"Ah, that? Don't misunderstand. It's because Satsuki told me-"

A silence ensues, long enough for Kise to move closer to Aomine, tilting his head to the side expectantly for the rest of the explanation.

"-Because Satsuki told me to do it............By the way, what's with the glasses? They look stupid?"

Nailed it.

"Oh, these?" Kise taps the red frames, golden eyes blinking innocently as he tries to adjust to the abrupt subject change.

"My manager told me to try and hide my face when I'm out during the day, otherwise the fangirls get too much-"

"UGH"

God, the earnest way he answered is annoying in itself, but more importantly: what, is he Midorima to seriously think that throwing on a pair of glasses counts as a disguise?

" _I want my concern back_..."

"Hmmm?! What's this, Aominecchi was worried about me?"

"Huh, who'd be concerned about a fucking idiot."

"sob.....Aominecchi..."

There's a sudden lightness in Aomine's chest, as if a weight has been pried off him. Though he'd rather die than admit it, he wonders if  perhaps this is relief from the knowledge that in spite of everything, Kise's stupid brightness hasn't dimmed out. Even if it's a false light, the familiarity of this banter alone is somehow ....comforting.

Carried away by this rush of this strange new feeling, the (more-or-less unemployed) fighter opens his mouth to speak...

"Kise-"

...only to be interrupted by the untimely buzzing of Kise's phone. Fucking classic.

"Ah sorry Aominecchi, can you hold that thought? I need to take this."

The model steps aside, casting an rueful look at Aomine as he raises the phone to his ear.

" Heyaaaaa P-chan <3.  It's so unusual for you to call me!!"

.............Who is he talking to? 

Aomine looks away and swallows the rest of his sports drink, ignoring Kise as he chatters away into his phone. No, no, no, the false light is flashy and annoying, after all.

Hpmh.

"Ehhh? Right now? Well, if it's P-chan it's okay, but you'll have to take me to karaoke to make up for it! Ok ok, see you soon."

The model hangs up with a small sigh, then perks up again, raising two fingers in a V.

"Sorry, Aominecchi, looks like I have to go~. Let's catch up another time?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Bye."

Kise turns to go, and as he does so, the silver chain around his neck lifts up from the movement, and the cross at the end catches a flash of sunlight.

"Ao...minecchi?"

By the time his mind catches up to his body, which moved of its own accord, Aomine becomes painfully aware that he's gripping Kise's wrist.

Ahhh.......no going back now, huh.

 

**[Saturday. 14:00. ..........]**

"....................................-"

"Mi.....tobe?"

"!!!!............."

"AHaa aww hey...so it must have been you I heard calling out to me..."

"......................."

"Hey, hey, don't say that. This is nothing, I'm totally fin- *cough* - fine. _Oooh that smarts..._ "

"................................"

"'You should've been there' ..?  Oiii. Riko gave you an important mission, right, so like, there's no way that's tru-"

"................."

"Mitobe..?"

"........"

"Yeah....me too."

 

**[Saturday. 14:10. Obligatory Indirect Kiss Moment]**

 

"Aaaaah, all that hard work today's made me hungry. Let's stop in here, Muro-chin."

Himuro isn't sure what part of curb stomping a couple of two-bit thugs, sleeping for another six hours, then dragging said thugs halfway across the city to go appliance shopping constitutes as 'hard work', but it's fine. At least that business is done and over with (the installation people are coming tomorrow to restore peace to the Araki safehouse once more).

He follows Murasakibara through the convenience store entrance, pretty worn out himself by the events of the past 24 hours; all he has to show for today's efforts are a massive bruise and a deep sense of _dissatisfaction._

Well, not everything is bad; spending time with Atsushi outside like this is nice in its own way.

Murasakibara's fearsome stature attracts attention no matter where he goes, but he's especially eye-catching when in the proximity of snacks. It takes under a minute for the killer to burn through half the store, returning to Himuro already cradling an obscene amount of food in his right arm.

"Was it really alright that we left those two guys like that in the end... you know, you're too brutal, Atsushi" Himuro scolds, accepting the bag of potato chips Murasakibara is trying to place into his hands (what's this? He needs help?? There's actually a limit to how much food Atsushi can carry???) as they head towards the freezers.

"Ehhhhhhhh, isn't Muro-chin way more violent than me?" Murasakibara drawls, extracting four boxes of popsicles at once with his free hand.

In light of today's events, and the events of many a time in the past, Himuro finds himself unable to deny this; Atsushi makes a fair point.

At the cashier, they encounter a dead-looking employee that doesn't so much as flinch at Murasakibara's mountain of snacks. Himuro can't help but feel impressed by the youth, whose dull eyes have seen Too Much from working in convenience store retail.

Ten plastic bags later, and they're out the door again.

"So, about that...." Himuro starts, speaking over his shoulder as Murasakibara comes up behind him, rustling through his purchases to open a bag of candy.

"I did something unnecessary, right? It feels like my meeting with Haizaki Shougo somehow set him off..."

Murasakibara rips the wrapper off a lollipop with his teeth, sucks on the candy pensively for a moment before taking it out of his own mouth and slipping it between Himuro's unsuspecting lips.

"Mmmmm, I think that guy getting involved was pretty inevitable. Anyways, it's Kise-chin's problem now, so Muro-chin definitely shouldn't worry about it."

Strawberry flavour. Still warm from Atsushi's mouth- ah, no, focus, Himuro. Focus.

"Kise...oh, Ryouta. He's another one of you 'Miracles', yeah?"

"Mmmhmm. He'll probably be first coming after your Kagami Taiga, so if you want-"

A shadow crosses over Murasakibara's abruptly displeased face, and the veritable giant grabs Himuro's hand and begins to pull him into a quick pace away from the convenience store.

"Atsushi? What's wrong?"

Murasakibara checks his shoulder, then mutters:

"If we stay any longer, we're gonna run into someone reeeeally annoying. I'll tell Muro-chin everything, so let's just get out of here."

Himuro doesn't have a single complaint with this arrangement.

 

**[Saturday. 14:24. Someone Reeeeally Annoying]**

"Don't laugh, Takao!"

"Ahahaa I'm cr-..ahh, Shin-chan, I'm crying ahahhaaa. That thief just ... ahahhaa...to you of all people...and took your bag...do they know they fucking _stole_ a stuffed mouse like.. what're they going to do with that? .... i can't..... _owww my stomach hurts._ "

"Don't be so loud. And this is a serious problem, my life is in danger if I don't have my lucky item with me, this is no time to be laughing!"

"Aha, I know, I know. Let's stop in this store first, I'll call someone to deliver you a new taxidermy    mouse..... I can't believe I just said that out loud, I'm gonna pee my pants..."

"TAKAO!!!"

"Ooh, watch your step, Shin-chan, you almost walked right into that pothole. Jeez, you weren't kidding about the bad luck."

"I am not in the habit of 'kidding'"

"Haha ohhh Shin-chan."

 

**[Saturday.15:01. Pure]**

What's Riko supposed to do when she's hard-pressed for information on a large, mostly unknown enemy, but the person to whom she delegated the task of finding certain crucial facts is currently kneeling at Koganei's bedside, fingers intertwined with Koga's own as the two of them snooze together peacefully in spite of the urgency of the situation?

 

**[Saturday. 18:33.  Resolve]**

Kise shivers.

Carefully, so as not to rouse the peacefully-sleeping P from her slumbers, he stands up from the edge of the bed and checks the time: still a bit too early, huh?

The model sighs and looks down at the inside of his right arm; the place where Aomine had grabbed him to pull him back still burns with the memory of the touch.

In the end, the other man had just hurriedly scrawled a 7 digit phone number onto Kise's forearm and sauntered off with the flippant parting words: "I guess I can take one for the team and listen to you ugly cry after you fail tonight. See ya."

How very like Aominecchi, this brash, roundabout kindness. Kise had thought his original intention in approaching Aomine was to force him into acknowledging him, but now the model is not so sure. Rather than settling a score or being noticed, this is more like...

Kise presses his hand against his chest and takes a deep breath.

This feels good: whether it's playing with everyone again, this business with Kurokocchi, _that_ business with Aominecchi, his modeling, his other jobs, even the lovely P-chan over here... there's a thrill here, a sense of _life_.

That's why he's not going to let anyone take this feeling away from him.

Not again.

 

**[Saturday.19:11.  Jealousy Is An Ugly Thing, Dorothy]**

Haizaki Shougo is in what some people might refer to as a 'bad mood."

He shakes his right hand out, flicking off some of the blood dripping from his scraped knuckles. Seems like the usual form of stress relief isn't working.

Meeting Atsushi's Ichimatsu doll has lead him to some pretty annoying information (...and speaking of which, as if that fucking one-eyed doll had the nerve to leave without putting up a proper fight? The fuck, so boring.) and now Haizaki has to take care of this shit all over again.

Isn't it embarrassing, the way the so-called 'Miracles' are all still repeating the same bullshit as when they were brats? Playing their shitty 'games' again, hyped up on a sense of superiority while hiding from how fucked up their lives really are...it's pathetic.

And then there's that _fucking_ Ryooooouta.

Haizaki licks off some of the blood off his thumb, smiling a little in spite of himself.

There's no doubt in his mind that the new development has caused _that bitch_ to get ahead of himself again.

If it isn't Haizaki's job to put him back in his place, then what is?

 

**[Saturday. 19:25. Danger: Do Not Cross]**

"Uhhmm, Seijuro-kun...haha.. this is not.. what we agreed on.."  Client Xy stutters with an unpleasant laugh, openly agitated. He mops a bit of sweat off his forehead with the white handkerchief crumpled in his hand.

Akashi closes his right eye and regards the man in the seat across from him with a silent, piercing golden-orange gaze. His legs are crossed, and the only movement he makes is the tapping of a closed folding fan rhythmically against his knee.

Pitiable, how little it takes for Xy to start snapping under the pressure.

"I mean, really, Seijuro-kun, I thought the Akashi syndicate wasn't affiliated with the yakuza? If I'd known, I never would have...I have a hard time believing your father would-"

Akashi gives one final tap before holding the black fan out in his slender fingers in gesture.

"My father," he begins softly, with eerie temperance.

"No longer has any control over my business."

He does not elaborate, and Xy is at least wise enough to let that one go.

"It's just, n-no one told me you were going to get the Araki clan involved in this," he continues, trying to speak indignantly, which would be more convincing if he wasn't covered in nervous sweat.

"Is that why you sent me such a pleasant surprise last night?"

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Oh? Perhaps your men were the ones from last Thursday, my mistake. It _is_ difficult for me to keep track of all the disobedience."

This is Akashi's idea of a joke: he doesn't make mistakes, and it's not difficult for him to keep track of anything, because he is perfect.

"Now l-listen, I don't know what you're insinuating, but if it's the case that others have been retaliating, maybe you shouldn't be so full of yours-EEP"

Xy's blathering is cut off quite suddenly as Akashi flicks his fan open, revealing it to be an ornate tessen.

"Do you understand, Mr. Xy, that the only reason you are still breathing is because I am gracious enough to allow it? You are useful to me, but not so useful that I will tolerate any more insolence from you or anyone else."

It's unclear whether Akashi's surprise weapon or his unyielding glare is more threatening. Either way, Xy looks like he's about to pass out.

"Though it may not be to your liking, I believe you will find I am complying with every detail of our arrangement. Should you test me, or question my methods again, I will not show mercy a second time."

Mercy isn't exactly the right word, and Client Xy gets that. He really does. Akashi Seijuro has a role for him to play, and he's in too deep to back out now, for fear of ending up having to choose between dying in the ocean or the mountains. Or whatever happened to the 'pleasant surprise' he actually did send out to Akashi the other day.

Fucking kids these days are horrifying.

Naturally, Xy stumbles out of Akashi's residence as fast as his legs, jellied from fear, can carry him, leaving Akashi alone in this cold empty home once more.

After sitting in silence for a couple minutes, Akashi blinks several times and pulls out a shogi board from the living room table.

 

**[Saturday. 20:07. A Date...???]**

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko begins, regarding the heir's handstand pushup routine with an inscrutable look in his eyes. The consequent reveal of chiseled abdominal muscles from gravity pulling Kagami's black shirt down is not going unnoticed.

How troublesome.

"Not that I am complaining, but you have not expressed a single wish to go outside today."

"Yeah, so?" Kagami grunts, tucking his right hand against his back and balancing his whole weight on the left. A bead of sweat rolls down his temple.

"Not like I have anything to do out there, anyways."

"Is that so? You were pretty adamant about being 'freed'. Are you sure there is no one you would like to visit, at all?  I can always make arrangements..."

"Who would I even visit?" the heir mutters, slowly returning his feet to solid ground, and straightening himself back up to a standing position. His cheeks are still a little red from all the blood rushing to his face.

"I've only been living here for a couple of months, it's not like I really know anyone besides Aida's men... and you, I guess."

"...................."

".....w....why are you looking at me like that?"

"How sad. That the young master is unable to make any frien-"

"Sh-shut up, Kuroko!"

Oh dear. Teasing Kagami is far too easy. Truly, the young heir is a pleasant surprise in many ways.

"Then, did you want to go out anyways?"

"Huh?"

Kuroko gestures to the door with his thumb.

"That burger place we went to yesterday....I liked the vanilla shakes."

Taiga stares down at Kuroko for a few moments with his double-brows furrowed, as if processing the bodyguard's words, then grins.

"Fuck yeah, let's go."

It's almost certainly too dangerous to be wandering about at night in these trying times (Kuroko has no doubt at least one of the main players will make their move tonight), but the bodyguard finds that, aside from the initial objective of wanting to bait the enemy, he there's also these knew sentiments coming up: Taiga clearly doesn't have it easy, but he's so strong-willed and bright that Kuroko can't help but want to see him shine brighter.

His determination is now absolute: Kagami Taiga will be protected, at any cost. This does not impede Kuroko's initial objective; rather, it serves to strengthen his will with no regrets.

"Yes, let's go."

 

**[Saturday. 20:10. Hello?]**

"I'm going on ahead," Kagami calls over his shoulder, shoving his hands into his pockets as he heads towards the elevators. He presses the down button and waits, feeling strangely excited.

Honestly, he had thought that this personal bodyguard bullshit was just Aida making him suffer, and even though Kuroko is still infuriating and a little spooky, Kagami finds himself thinking it might not be such a bad arrangement after all. He's interesting, to say the least. And it's true, Kagami hasn't spoken one on one with people outside Aida's circle lately, so it's ...well. Fun.

The light above the elevator lights up with a PING, and Kagami steps forward as the doors slide open.

But he can't move.

Every nerve in his body tenses up, as if to brace itself from the sensation of overwhelming bloodlust suddenly aimed directly at him. Something like a glint of gold flashes by him, and the sensation fades just as quickly as it had appeared.

Heart pounding in his chest, Kagami looks around, alarmed, but is only surrounded by empty halls.

The elevator doors close shut.

Kagami's trained ears hear nothing save for the sound of his own breathing. And yet, he's sure there was something...someone there.

What the hell is this? Could it be-

"Kuroko-?"

"Guess again <3"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope one day Momoi and Kise return to that coffee shop with Himuro, thus completing the trifecta of KNB in-universe beauty queens. Tho I'm not sure it's safe for the innocent public if that trio ever gets together...
> 
> naturally, by the time this ever happens, Ahomine will have riko to join him in jealously watching from the safe distance of the noodle shop. such is the fate of irritable possessive people whose love interests are far too popular and carefree.
> 
> also RIP muro and midorima in every bit i write for them, ever lol sorry you two i always make you suffer
> 
> THANKS AGAIN FOR READING I HOPE YOU ENJOYED AND WILL CONTINUE READING THIS SILLY STORY OF MINE


	6. Chatper 5- Ball Is Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of first meetings, Like two whole first meetings happen. A lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O JEEZ THIS TOOK ME over a month to update. i am so, so sorry. life got hectic.. well, at least this is easily the longest chapter i have written yet...  
> i'm not sure i'm happy with how it turned out, but i sure TRIED MY BEST.
> 
> I would like thank you all DEEPLY from the bottom of my heart, and know that i am grateful to all of you for reading this story and putting up with all my inconsistencies and errors. 
> 
> I really hope you are able to enjoy reading? Bless you all very much

**[Saturday. 6 hours ago, at 14:11. Rainbow Road Part 0]**

 

People are always saying how Muro-chin is cold, that his expressions are lifeless, that he's just like a doll. "Disinterested". "Icy". "Unpredictable".

Yeah, okay.

The truth is, Muro-chin is always warm to the touch, he gets pissy easily, and he cares so much about pointless shit that it's annoying. Lifeless dolls probably don't have such bad tempers. Probably.

Where are people even looking? Murasakibara can't fully understand all of Muro-chin's emotions, but he can feel them, in his smell, in the clear beating of his pulse as he grips his wrist.

"Atsushi....Atsushi! Slow down, where are we going?"

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Explain. Muro-chin seems so desperate to find out what Murasakibara promised to tell him, about his past, about the current game. Honestly, Murasakibara doesn't give a shit if Muro-chin finds out about all the crap that happened, but sitting down to explain it is kind of a pain.

~~No, it's just painful.~~

Still, if that's what it takes to satisfy Muro-chin....Murasakibara runs through all possible solutions to the current problem, and uses the process of elimination to reach a decision.

He stops abruptly, causing Himuro to stumble into him, confused.

"Does Masako-chin need us for anything today?"

"I don't think so?"

Okay.

"I need to introduce you to someone."

 

**[Saturday. 20:11. ????!?!??!??!!!!!!]**

 

"Guess again <3"

So close, Kagami can feel the heat of the unfamiliar voice against his ear.

The young heir wastes no time in getting the fuck back, covering about eight meters of distance between himself and...

...this random...pretty-boy.

At first glance, everything about this guy seems non-threatening, from his carelessly open stance, to the amicable look on his face, to the way his hands are covered by the oversized sleeves of his beige wool cardigan. If Kagami didn't know better, he'd assume this is simply some lost blonde ikemen that just happened to find his way into this apartment complex, and nothing more.

But Kagami _does_ know better; while he's not the most 'academically proficient' person, he doesn't need to be to realize that the stranger standing before him was also the one whose bloodlust raised the hairs on the back of his neck for a second back there.

"Ahaha, relax, relax, I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to talk. You're Kagami Taiga, yes?"

Random Ikemen says this in a light, playful sing-song voice, not really putting Kagami at ease. Like, at all. He's moving forward, reaching for his pocket... for a what? A weapon? If it's a knife, Kagami is fucking ready to engage, fists raised and on alert. If it's a gun.....well, he can play that by ear.

 Running does not even occur to him, because he's _that_ kind of idiot.

However, before Random Ikemen can take another step, something metal whizzes past Kagami headed straight for the stranger's arm.

The guy barely moves away in time.

"Can you please refrain from doing whatever it is you are trying to do?"

Kagami never thought he'd be glad to startle at one of Kuroko's heart-stopping phantom appearances, and yet here he is.

He glances down at his bodyguard's face to find there's something....different about his default neutral expression: there's a spark in his big blue eyes that Kagami hasn't seen before.

The stranger, unfazed by the ...wait, is that a kunai?! What kind of weird ass shit does Kuroko carry around.... that had been flung in his direction,  smiles brighter at Kuroko's sudden entrance, and raises his floppy-sleeved palms up in a sign of non-confrontation. 

"Ooooaaaa, that was a close one, Kurokocchi! Not holding back, as usual haha!"

Kuroko....cchi?

"It's been a while, Kise-kun."

Hold on.

"Kuroko, you know this guy?!"

The bodyguard shuts his eyes and, if Kagami isn't mistaken, clicks his tongue.

"Oh, Kurokocchi and I go way back. I'm sure he was expecting me <3" Random Ikemen-no, 'Kise', chirps, further driving Kagami into a state of confusion.

Way back..? Expecting...? So he's _not_ here to start shit?

But every one of Kagami's instincts is telling him that this Kise guy is dangerous...much too much to let his guard down.

"Wait. So he's your friend?"

"YEAH!"  "No."

Critical hit. Kise takes a moment to stagger back to a proper standing position, barely recovered from the mental blow.

"Ehhhhh, you're so mean, Kurokocchi. Just because we haven't seen each other in forever...or is it because you switched sides?! But that doesn't mean you can't come back! Play with us again..."

.................switched sides?

Whatever they're talking about, Kuroko isn't having any of it. In his usual cool tone, he rebuffs with:

"I know I've made my stance clear; _He_ should understand by now. This will be the last game, if I can help it. Then, if you'll excuse us. Come on, Kagami-kun."

"Wh-? Okay..?"

Of course, no matter how hard Kuroko smashes the Close Door button, Kise still follows them into the elevator, resulting in a very awkward ride down to the main floor; Kuroko stands in front of Kagami the entire time, not exactly glaring, but still causing Kise to lose a lot of HP with his icy countenance.

"Kuro-"

The disembodied elevator voice lady announcing their arrival to "Lobby" cuts Kise off, and the doors swing open.

 Kuroko stays close to Kagami, remarking over his shoulder in a tone that is somehow both harsh and gentle:

"I don't know what your job today is, but I should let you know I won't let you touch Kagami-kun."

Oi, what's this guy saying? Okay, so he's Kagami's bodyguard, but somehow... his delivery is really embarrassing!! And what's this 'won't let', Kagami can take totally this risky blonde thing himself..........maybe.

Kise doesn't look happy about the blunt rejection: he's peeking his fingers from without his sleeves to run his hands against along throat, working through some internal struggle. With great effort, he shrugs it off with:

"Ah, I see, okay.............. Well, don't worry about that, I just wanna talk, I have this lett-"

All three men react at the same time.

Kuroko: Moves forward so fast he appears as a blur, extending his arm out to meet the closest assailant, Mask I, docking the man right in the throat. Mask I goes down, fox mask skewing to the side as their head makes contact with the floor.

Kise: In one motion, he reaches down to pick up the gun of the fallen man, pushes his weight onto his arm enough to flip his entire body over and kick Mask II in the face on his way back down. Foot still in contact with their head, Kise uses it as a stepping stone to head onto the next....head.

Kagami: Instinctively rushing forward, ignoring Kuroko's sharp  "KAGAMI-KUN", dodges the trained, but inferior-to-Taiga strike of a fist, and elbows Mask III right in the masked face.

"Who the fuck are these people?" he shouts over his shoulder, already faced with another attacker. There are fourteen...no fifteen total.

.......what the fuck? Is this a mob raid? Who sent these disposable, culty-looking guys?? Is this what it's going to be like, living as the 'heir' to his old man, or whatever???

HONESTLY.

"Hey. Pretty-boy."

"Ehh, don't look at me, I'm not with these people!"

While Kise's character and Kuroko's treatment of him leave a lot of room for doubt, Kagami has to admit that he's fighting the Masks. Like, pretty one-sidedly.

His fighting style is almost....graceful, not a single unnecessary movement as he drops three, four opponents at once.

Not that Kagami is admiring that weirdo or anything. ~~(Maybe a little.)~~ Either way, he's much distracted by the sudden presence at his back, a stray Mask that must have snuck up behind him. He turns swiftly, using his right arm to block the trajectory of the hand blade that was surely aimed for his throat.

With no hesitation, he rams Mask (??) into the wall and rams his forehead into theirs, cracking both the mask and the assailants consciousness with the blow.

In the same moment, he experiences a sharp pain in his left inner elbow, as well as his shoulder. Still recovering from the self-inflicted head pain, Kagami grits his teeth and prepares to retaliate.

What the fuck is it _now_?

The heir rips his arm out from whatever grip is holding it and spins around to face this latest Mask attack. The head is lolling slightly, probably from the pressure of Kise's chokehold.

"Aha, that should be the last of them," he chirps brightly, dropping the 'sleeping' man quite unceremoniously onto the ground.

Kagami is left unsettled...did this guy just sav-...have his back?

"Right, Kurokocchi?"

Kuroko nods in affirmation, which is honestly pretty unnecessary, considering there are like seven bodies lying crumple at his feet.

"Are you alright, Kagami-kun?" he asks, and Kagami isn't sure if it's his imagination that he hears a slight waver to the question.

"I'm sorry that you had to get involved yourself..."

"Nah, I'm fine. It's been a while since my last fight, anyways, and this was nothing." Kagami responds, not untruthfully. He's been restless for a while now, and even though the opponents weren't anything special, he still got to see some interesting stuff. However, he still casually tucks his left arm to his body as he's speaking.

"So? What's with the stock mob characters?" he asks, kicking aside one of ones that are still squirming.

"Yes, and how did they get in? Miss Aida has at least five men stationed around the premises."

"She has _what?!!_ "

"Lower your voice please, Kagami-kun"

"Are you KIDDING M-"

"Oh those guys?" Kise interjects, with a thumb pointing back towards the front entrance of the lobby.

"Yeah, I took care of them on my way in, I didn't think it would cause such a mess. Oh, but I didn't kill anyone, so don't worry! Hehe."

Kagami, still not recovered from the fact that Aida seems to have him protected everywhere and at all times, is now having a hard time 'not worrying' about the fact that some sketchy model-looking motherfucker with superhuman abilities, who apparently knows Kuroko, just casually immobilized Aida's personnel singlehandedly.

 But okay.

Kuroko's reaction is more of a resigned sigh, as if he should have known all along that's what happened.

"I didn't think they were with you, it's unlike your style."

Kise cheeks flush red and his golden eyes begin to sparkle, as if Kuroko had praised him rather than just made a casual observation. This pisses Kagami off for reasons he can't begin to explain to himself.

The three men simultaneously look down at the scattered assailants.

"But if you didn't bring them, then....surely... they weren't just sent by some normal group looking to cash in the bounty..."

Um? What else would they be?

 

**[Saturday. 20:15. Bad News]**

 

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Riko is distraught.

"Are you seriously telling me _this_ is supposed to Momoi Satsuki?!!???"

Mitobe has already confirmed that yes, the picture in Aida Riko's hands is indeed a recent Polaroid snapshot of said informant (which was by no means easy to obtain, but Mitobe wasn't sent on this mission for nothing). Confirmed by at least two of her regulars. All he can do now is wait for Riko's, uhh, passionate reaction to subside.

"She's way too fucking hot..." Riko mutters through gritted teeth, clenching the photograph with trembling hands.

"Isn't this unreasonable? Shouldn't someone with her job be more, I don't know, lowkey? Like, the size of those...and her face...UGH."

".................?"

"What is she so upset about? Well...I think I can guess," Koganei whispers back to Mitobe. He'd use hand gestures to elaborate, but he's still in pain from recent events and doesn't need the holy wrath of Riko to rain down on him on the off chance she notices, in the midst of her (blood?)thirst-fueled rage.

"Oh jeez, she threw it against the wall. Must be tough, realizing your enemy is so attractive, huh?"

"......................"

"Well, she seems to think we were attacked by this Momoi's people, but she still hasn't been able to confirm it, so the revelation of Momoi Satsuki's appearance has been a....blow. God knows how long this display will last haha...."

**[Saturday. 20:26. Ciao]**

 

"HUH. What do you mean?!"

"I said," Kise repeats patiently, flapping the photograph and resume in his hand to emphasize his words yet again.

 "I'm acting as a messenger for Xx-chan-...umm, Miss Xx of the Xx Family who decided, after news of your existence was leaked through underground channels, that she wanted to arrange a marriage meeting with you. Here's her profile!"

Kagami's hands pretty much move on their own to accept this absurd proposition, as his mind is still trying to reconcile what was just said.

"What. _That_ was your job? That's it?"

He casts a quick look at Kuroko, who shakes his head. Okay, yeah, calling bullshit.

Though this all seems pretty real.......

Also:

"Then why did you fuck with security?!"

Kise winks, he actually winks, and answers without a shred of shame:

"There's no way Kurokocchi would have let me even come close to the building if he'd known I was coming!"

This time, Kuroko nods gravely.

"Though I can't blame him for worrying I'd be up to something worse. You know," Kise suddenly gets close to Kagami, and the heir feels the same shiver as before overcome him. Kise's voice drops down to a dangerous murmur, half-seductive, half-warning.

"If everything goes well for you two, and you manage to survive the others, I'll definitely be back for more."

Kagami pushes him back, his heart pounding in his chest harder than when he was fighting the Masks.

Kise receives this with a smile, flashing a goodbye in the form of a cheeky two fingered salute.

" You're pretty fun, let's play again! And Kurokocchi, even if you don't reconsider, I'll still..."

Pause.

He leaves just like that, as if he had never been here in the first place.

 

 

 

**[Saturday. 20:30. Straightforward.]**

 

"What.....was that all about??? I'm so fucking confused"

"I didn't think I'd be faced with such an elusive start. I'm sorry, Kagami-kun, for everything. He...Kise-kun...we met when we were children. There are others as well, on a team, and our upbringing was...unorthodox."

"So you're like childhood friends?"

_More like child soldiers._

"I can't explain myself well in this environment, but...in any case, when I caught wind that my former...teammates were assigned to attack you I saw it as my chance. To atone not only for my own sins, but also stop them at any cost. And you just happened to be the main target."

_I thought it would be more straight forward, like it was in the past._

"..............o-...oh."

 

**[Saturday. 20:31. Was This Even Necessary For Me To Put This Short Bit In? No, But I Sure Did It Anyways]**

A rather happy 8-bit tune resounds through the room, and Riko immediately snaps back to reality to pick up her phone.

"Kuroko? Sorry I didn't contact you until now, I couldn-......................... ** _WHAT?!_** "

 

**[Saturday. 20:38. For Now]**

 

"Yes. Yes, the situation is under control. I've managed to make contact with the disarmed security, they seem to be fine. Yes. Yes, ma'am. I am sorry about all of this. No, aside from a few scratches. .......yes. Alright. Take care, we will be waiting for you inside the lobby. Yes. Thank you."

A dense silence falls after Kuroko hangs up. The bodyguard forces himself to sneak a glance at Kagami, who is sitting slumped against the wall of his apartment's entrance, head bowed, the shadows over his face making it impossible to read his expression.

Kuroko had known the truth would come out sooner or later, and it's not as if he had done anything _wrong_ , but somehow...there's an itchy, nervous feeling in the back of his throat.

".......Kagami-kun, I-"

Without warning, Kagami stands up suddenly, and Kuroko's words falter.

Is he upset? He has every right to be, being used yet again by the person who's supposed to protect him.

Well, it shouldn't matter, Kuroko can still protect him, there's no particular reason the young master has to _like_ him. But somehow....

"AAAAH. What the hell was up with that, anyways? Geez, am I seriously that valuable? Or is shit always like this in this country? I don't get it. And you,"

He turns directly to Kuroko.

"You know some seriously annoying people."

Kuroko blinks with surprise. He's not wrong.

"But he was strong....really strong. That Kise guy. He didn't even do anything to me, but I couldn't go against him."

The young heir's red eyes are positively _blazing_ now. What was it about this brief exchange that's got him so fired up?

"........ _Interesting._ I don't really get what this 'game' is, but if it means breaking out of this dull life...we'll be up against more interesting guys like that?"

 _We'll_ be up against? Kuroko never fails to be amazed by Kagami's boundless energy and passion. Where does it come from...

"You're not upset that you're involved with my former colleague, and the only reason I agreed to guard you was for my own personal dispute with them ?"

"Ummmm" kagami rubs the back of his head, sharp eyes angled back in thought.

"I don't really understand that complicated shit.? The way I see it, we're on the same side, right? Like, us, against...I'm not sure? I'm guessing there's history there you don't really want to talk about? Is it important for me to know?"

Kuroko takes a minute to process this, slowly running through the words over in his head.

"......................Kagami-kun really is an idiot, aren't you?"

".....................you wanna fucking go?"

But Kagami's expression softens, and he turns his head quickly, leaving Kuroko to note the red flush on the tips of his ears.

"Ahhhh, I'm hungry! We still didn't get to eat" The young heir remarks with unnecessary force, looking anywhere but at Kuroko.

Before Kuroko can respond, the loud shrieking of car breaks sounds from the outside, followed by an aggressive slam of a car door.

3

2

1

Click.

BAM.

Aida flies through the door like a bullet. She's wearing a leather holster over her bandaged shoulder, which can be seen from without her poorly buttoned shirt. Her cheeks are flushed, probably from running like hell to get here.

"Oh, thank _GOD_."

Her check-up takes less than a second, as she discerns that all injuries sustained by the young master are minimal. Afterwards, her body twitches as she makes a motion to throw her arms around Kagami, hesitates, then punches him right in the abdomen.

"When I got the phone call, I thought my heart was going to stop," she murmurs tearfully, ignoring Kagami's belligerent reaction to her method of showing affection.

"Thank goodness you're barely hurt."

"Ummm, you're one to talk, what happened to you?!"

"... Just a scratch, don't you worry" Riko brushes off the question pretty poorly, pulling back to her usual self. She stands back to take a look at the unconscious assailants. She turns over one of them with the heel of her boot, frowning deeply as she scrutinizes his bloodied features.

"This guy..." she mutters, clearly to herself, light brown eyes narrowed in recognition, Kuroko is sure of it.

"That's fine. I'll deal with the rest of the situation here. Jesus, you guys really did a number on these bastards. Oh, and you mentioned a third party, Kuroko?"

"..Yes. He just came to deliver a marriage proposal on behalf of the Xx family. He...left the premises unscathed."

"Hmmm."

Aida bites the knuckle of her index finger as she mulls over her options. Kuroko knows she's nigh-openly suspicious of him, as she has every right to be. But she's also overwhelmed by every single person that wants to kill, kidnap, kiss, and corrupt her principle, Kagami Taiga, and in the end she opts for safety first, answers later:

"Get Kagami-kun to safehouse B. We'll talk later."

It's only a matter of time before everything comes out into the open, but it's nice to have some buffer between truth reveals.

Which is fine. Judging from Kagami-kun's reaction.... it'll work out fine.

"What are you smiling about?"

Kuroko startles at the question: he's never been accused of 'smiling about' something before.

"Was I?"

"Yeah.."

A perfect idiot.

 

**[Saturday. 21:43. Fancy Pants x2]**

 

It has been a while since this house last received a welcome visitor. All kinds of worthless criminals, rebellious elements, 'friends of the family' have been passing through, clouding the halls with their unseemly presence; those who wish to use and to be used, in the worst possible ways.

So for the first time in a long time, Akashi Seijuro finds himself smiling, if only slightly, at the sound of the shoji door sliding open from behind him.

He waits until the soft pad of footsteps on the tatami floor close up next to him before turning around to face his 'guest', who kneels before him. A vial of red liquid slips from out of his sleeves and is placed in front of Akashi, like an offering.

"You're late," he begins, shutting his left eye as he speaks.

"Ryouta."

"Geeeez, Akashicchi, did you know those hit men were going to be there today?"

"As much as you did."

Ryouta lets out a brief peal of laughter, sinking his weight more comfortably against his feet.

"Was it really necessary to get me to sneak blood out of the poor kid? I'm sure there were more legit ways to take care of that..."

"Not so. It seems Kagami Sr. has taken great pains to keep _any_ official or unofficial contact away from his heir."

"Is that so? I guess _I_ wouldn't want strangers putting needles in _my_ son. If I had a son."

This house is usually cold, too cold, but right now Akashi is feeling comfortably warm. It's nice.

"Still, I'm surprised no one asked for blood samples or DNA proof until after the bounty."

"That is because I was the one that originally leaked the information of the existence of the Kagami heir. And my word is absolute"

Ryouta looks amused by this, and he hums in agreement with a curt nod of his head.

His outer appearance is almost too relaxed, but Akashi can tell with a glance that he's strained: the muscles in his jaw are slightly tensed; his hands, which are hidden by his sleeves, are clearly balled into tight fists, pressed against his thighs. His eyes are clear, but for how long?

Akashi sees everything.

"I trust you're ready for the second phase. Or has your resolve wavered now that you've met with Tatsuya?"

Ryouta shakes his head once, twice. He's biting the inner part of his bottom lip.

"Akashicchi.....this game is a little different than the others, huh?"

"The general goal remains the same."

"........Yeah? Well."

The model accepts the envelope detailing his next role to play. Judging from his reluctance, Akashi can tell he already knows the contents. Still, Kise makes no complaint.

He just smiles.

Akashi feels another throb in the back of his left eye.

Next.

 

**[Saturday. 22:05. Bad Girls Do It Well]**

Momoi would like to believe her upbringing has lead her to a solid grasp on basic domestic life skills.

Setting cooking aside (she's in denial), the lady is proficient in such things including: sewing (you know, like... sewing wounds shut), handling cleaning products and chemicals (uhhh, though more often than not for uses outside their 'intended purpose'...), wielding kitchen knives (okay, maybe not so much 'kitchen' knives as just any and all forms of blades), and of course, removing blood from all kinds of materials.

That said, it looks like it's going to take more than some cold water to save her dress, which is currently reminiscent of a Jackson Pollock painting. Since no one actually _died_ spattering their blood on the fine crêpe chiffon, there's no need to burn it,  so it looks like Momoi's due for a trip to the dry cleaner's...it's been a while.

Ahh, well. Before any of that, the information broker needs to shower off the sweat of today's unexpected labours: turns out the surprise attackers that drove Aida away, subsequently ruining Momoi's plans, were a group of skilled but terribly unfortunate punks from a small gang running loose on the West end of the city.

After spending a good nine hours hunting down the instigators, Momoi had to twist their arms a bit (metaphorically, but also literally) to get them to admit to trying to sabotage Aida Riko because of the recent Kagami Taiga bounty that was issued.

Momoi does not doubt the sincerity of their words, mostly because her little blood-letting demonstration on team leader really showed them exactly how serious she can be. However, her suspicions regarding the incident, especially how convenient it was for these randoms to just _happen_ to come in at that particular moment, are growing stronger. Well, enough about that..

Before she knows it, Momoi's already pulled up to the street next to Dai-chan's apartment. This often happens, her body just finding its way over here, especially after particularly strenuous jobs. That's the power of lifelong friendship, for you.

Checking for any stray late night passersby, Momoi gets out of her car and makes her way up to Aomine's door, which she opens using one of several spare keys she had made.

She steps into the living room to find her childhood friend lying with his back on the ground, surrounded by files and papers. While Momoi knows he's been working much harder now that Tetsu-kun and a game is involved, but even so, it's a little disconcerting to see him awake at home at this hour, when he's usually sleeping or out ...philandering.  

"Satsuki," this disturbingly diligent Aomine starts, waving a dossier, not bothering to comment on Momoi's disturbing appearance.

"What exactly is it about this plain woman that's got you so fired up?"

Momoi doesn't need to look at the file to know what he's talking about. She snatches the file out of his hands and puts in on his face.

"Dai-chan isn't the only one that's starving for some _real_ competition, you know?"

Aomine smacks the file off his face and turns his head to the side with an almost-pout.

"You keep saying that shit. I'm not starvin-"

"You mean you didn't quit working for Katsunori because you were hoping he'd send divine retribution your way and you'd finally get the challenge you wanted?"

Aomine has no response for this outside an unintelligible grunt. Nice comeback.

"Aida Riko..... Although she's young, she's known for rising the ranks fast to take over Kagami's security from her father, as well as her exceptional analytical abilities. You're reading her reports, you should know all the _delicious_ things she's accomplished. Besides,"

Momoi places a finger to her smiling lips.

"There's nothing I love more than taking serious, righteous people down a peg."

"Wow, you don't look it, but you're actually quite the sadist, aren't you, Satsuki?"

This time, Momoi doesn't have a response.

"Well! I'm going to use your shower."

"Hmm? Yeah."

Seems he's now preoccupied with a text message he just received.

Momoi gets halfway to the bathroom before walking back and peeking her head into the doorframe.

"By the way, how'd your confession go?" she teases, making sure she gets a good look at Aomine's face to gauge his reaction.

"Hah??? Stop opening your mouth, Satsuki, if only shit comes out of it. What confession?"

.....................................is what Momoi expects to hear.

She _doesn't_ expect Aomine to pause, crinkle his nose in thought, then rest his arm over his forehead with a heavy sigh, still clutching his clutching the cellphone in his hand.

Oi, oi. You've got to be kidding.

"Hey, Satsuki. There's no way Tetsu's gonna go along with that idiot, right?"

"..I think Ki-chan knows that as well."

"Yeah.....so he really hasn't changed. Still chasing after the same old shit."

Momoi's not sure, but it's starting to sound more and more like Dai-chan is talking about himself. She blinks a few times, still thrown back by this sudden burst of honesty.

"........................"

"Satsuki?"

"Dai-chan, are you not feeling well?"

"Huh?"

"A fever maybe? Let me check your temperature."

"Wh- Don't touch me with your gross bloody hands, that's disgusting."

"You sit tight and wrap a blanket around yourself, I'll go make you some rice porridge."

"What, you're going to make me 'food' so I get sick for real? I'm good, thanksss."

"DAi-chAN"

Aomine has to physically get up to usher Momoi into the bathroom. He throws a clean towel in the room and slams the door shut, leaving his childhood friend to raise her eyebrows at the state of the shower. Eugh... he really should clean this up.

She strips off her dress and drapes it over the sink, suddenly overcome by the realization that she has nothing else to wear.

Wrapping the towel around her body, she cautiously exits the bathroom, calling for Aomine:

"Hey, I don't have a change of clothes is it okay if I use your-.......eh, where'd he go?"

She's met with the sound of the apartment entrance door clicking shut.

 

**[Saturday. 22:16. T_T]**

 

Text message: _[Unknown: Same place we met earlier today.]_

He's sitting there at the bus stop, with his head tilted up and resting against the back of the bench. His skin looks especially pale under the surrounding sickly white fluorescent lights, and his golden eyes are glassy and unfocussed as they stare up at the bleary night sky.

Ah, that's no good.  That spaced-out, apathetic expression is reminiscent of a Kise from long ago.

 "You actually came for me," Kise notes with a small laugh, sitting up to greet Aomine with what cannot possibly be a genuine smile, not when he was making _that_ face literal seconds ago.

"I didn't think you would."

"Hmph. Why'd you wait, then." Aomine retorts in a rude tone, as if he doesn't actually care to know the answer. ~~He does.~~

Kise starts to laugh. He holds a hand to his mouth to stifle the sound.

"Doesn't matter anyways, I was already dumped once today."

Slowly, the giggles die out, becoming quieter and quieter, but his shoulders continue shaking until Aomine realizes that Kise isn't laughing.

He's choking back sobs.

AH! WAIT. AHH.

"I know he's not in the wrong, of course K-kurokocchi knows what he's doing. I don't know what but.... but it still hurts."

Tears just start gushing down his cheeks. Something akin to panic wells up inside Aomine's chest, but more than that... this kind of reaction is good. It's good. Compared with the blank Kise from before....

"It still hurtssssss. All I ever wanted was to play together again. B-but I can tell it's not gonna be the saaaaaaame this time."

He covers his face with his forearm, and continues crying.

He's this upset over Tetsu, huh. Since the beginning, Aomine's been ignoring the reality of meeting Tetsu again, and what that's going to mean for him. The emotions are too many and conflicting to deal with, and besides, Aomine's in control of his own feelings. He just needs to uhh...focus on what's in front of him, for now.

~~For once.~~

He waits until the sobs subside before slapping Kise on the back. Hardly comforting, and he can tell there's a lot more Kise wants to say, but...that can wait.

"Alright, alright. I get it. Just come back to my place."

He says this in a gruff voice, causing Kise to sniffle and squint up at Aomine with watery red eyes. Somehow being stared at directly like that...Aomine looks away.

"Eh? Why's Aominecchi being so nice......................... Haha that's kinda creepy. Are you okay?"

First Satsuki, now this. These people are so rude, what the fuck exactly is their impression of Aomine?!????

"Sh...shut up. Let's go."

.

Kise's mood improves greatly as they walk their way back to Aomine's apartment. He doesn't say much, but he lets out a hum every so often that Aomine is almost concerned. An emotional Kise is much harder to handle, he'd forgotten.

He pushes open at his unlocked door...

only to be greeted by a dripping wet Momoi, who is clad in what is obviously Aomine's shirt and a pair of his boxers.

"Momo...cchi? What are you... doing here?"

Shit, Aomine had completely forgotten about Satsuki. He feels this situation slipping out of his grasp, and before he can think of the reason WHY he's panicking, Aomine turns to Kise to explain:

"Oi, Kise, don't misundersta-"

"MOMOCCHI!!" Kise cuts him off to run up to Momoi and collapse into her arms, body slumped to match her height.

"KI-CHAN!!"

"Momocchi...sob..."

Kise's waterworks start up again, and the model bawls into Satsuki's shoulder while she rubs his back with a soothing "there, there!" and stares her pink eyes directly into Aomine's. She doesn't need to say anything for Aomine to read the look she's giving him.

She does anyways.

"Don't be jealous, Dai-chan." Momoi mouths, still consoling the sobbing blonde mess with gentle hushes.

Who's jealous?

"You can comfort Ki-chan all night long" she continues, this time with enough volume to the whisper that Kise pulls back, blinking the tears out of his eyes.

"Did you say something, Momocchi?"

"Yes, it's pretty late, you should just sleep over here tonight. RIGHT, _Aomine-kuni??_ "

Two pairs of sparkly expectant eyes stare back at Aomine.

After a pause, he clicks his tongue and turns to leave the room.

"Suit yourself."

 

**[Rainbow Road Part 1. Earlier on Saturday, sometime around 15:11]**

A bar?

Of all the places Himuro could have imagined Atsushi dragging him out to....

It had taken about an hour to reach this place, situated on the West side of the city. Neither swanky nor sketchy, the easily missed building holds a sign up front that reads "D R I V E". As it's still early in the day, the interior looks completely empty, with some chairs still stacked upside down on the tables.

As Himuro and Murasakibara go through the door, a very small bell heralds their passage through the entrance, and they step into a small, but tastefully furnished establishment.

Oak wood panels, glossy black furniture, impeccably clean.

The only other person in the room is a raven-haired man standing behind the bar, wiping a crystal glass with a white rag. He freezes upon the arrival of the gangsters, mouth set into a hard line as he somehow stares right through both of them.

"........................................................."

Murasakibara is the first to break the silence with:

"'Sup, senpai."

Whoah, whoah, whoah, _senpai_?

"What the fuck are ya doing here?"

Despite his words, the barkeep's tone isn't hostile, only faintly exasperated. Himuro has never met anyone aside from Madame Araki to speak to Atsushi in this way. And such familiarity...

The man flashes his light grey eyes over to Himuro, and for a breath of a moment he looks taken aback.

"And why'd you bring the Dragon with you? Actually, how'd you find me?"

Murasakibara waves away the barrage of questions with a lazy shake of his head. A lock of his violent hair ends up covering his face; he does nothing to remedy this.

"This place isn't bugged, right? So do me a favour and-"

"A _favour?_ "

"-and just explain some shit to Muro-chin, k?"

"No, it's not 'k', I have a job. Explain what? You're as unbelievable as always."

"Is it a big deal? Just tell him about Teiko."

"If it's not a big deal, then do it yourself."

"..............."

"..............................ugh. It'll cost you."

"Like, I know the deal, okay. It's fine if I'm back in two, riiiight?"

"Goddamnit, Murasakibara. Okay. Can you turn the sign up front to close the bar on your way out?"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, Muro-chin, this guy's gonna answer all your questions, so I'll be back later, k?"

"What. No, wait, Atsushi--..ahh he's gone."

And with that, the door's bells tinkle with one final farewell, leaving Himuro alone to face the strange angry barkeep. He can feel those grey eyes scrutinizing him, his gaze unwavering, so he just stares back and waits.

"You really are as breathtaking as they say," the man finally states, matter-of-factly, and finally sets down the glass he was wiping.

"Damn that Murasakibara for dumping this on me without warning, but I can't say I'm too upset to listen to your request."

.............................So Himuro wasn't being sized up.. he was just being checked out? Well, at least he's used to that by now.

"....You seem to know who I am."

"Well. The Araki Clan isn't exactly an unknown current in the underworld."

Himuro struggles for a moment to think of the best way to ask this man who the fuck he is and what the fuck is happening. If he's a recommendation from Atsushi, he must at least be trustworthy....ah, but is that true? This is the first time Atushi has ever introduced Himuro to anyone, there's no real precedent for this situation.

"What is .... Teiko? You mentioned it earlier.."

"Oh, cutting straight to the chase are we? How much do you know about what Murasakibara was doing before he joined up with the mafia?"

"Only bits and pieces of what Atsushi told me. He was placed with some other children, they were all trained...to kill, and do other things. Ummm, one of them is a model now, I think?"

"That's all?"

"Uh....Haizaki Shougo,"

The barkeep's eye visibly twitches.

"I met him the other day. He told me that these people play 'games', that change every time. Though he said it was just a 'fucking farce'....well, he said other things along that vein."

The barkeep grimaces for a moment, then reaches below the bar to pull out two bottles of alcohol, one reddish-brown, the other clear.

He drops four icecubes, 1 2 3 4 into a glass, and pours in the bottles while maintaining eye contact with Himuro.

"You really are in the dark, though it's not surprising. And you feel personally invested because...?"

Himuro hesitates: how badly does he want to share personal information with a stranger in a public (albeit closed) bar. On the other hand, while Atsushi might be a little 'out of it' so to speak, Himuro trusts his intuition. And he did say this place wasn't bugged.

"Their collective target this time is Kagami Taiga...I have a lot of history with this person, and I didn't even know he was in the country until Atsushi brought up his mission. I don't want to get involved in the bounty, I just want to see him again, and understand..."

Nijimura nods, slides over the finished drink.

"What is this?"

"Just drink it."

"Oh, no thank you?"

"If you want to hear the whole story, you're gonna want to start drinking."

Himuro isn't generally considered 'obedient', but he complies, taking a tentative sip. It's bitter, but the burning feeling in his throat is not unwelcome.

"Thanks...uhh.."

"Ah that's right, I forgot," barkeep finally smiles, holding his hand out to Himuro to shake.

 "Sorry I didn't introduce myself: you can call me Nijimura."

 

**[Sunday. 00:02. Mild Spice]**

"Good luck, Midorimacchi!"

"Die."

"Ehh-"

But Midorima has already hung up.

Kise sighs and flops onto his back, flinging his phone somewhere closer to the pillow. He spreads his arms out, acknowledging that today has been a long fucking day.

Aominecchi sure likes to pimp out his sleeping places: the bed is spacious, queen-sized, covered in several layers of silky soft sheets. It smells like him, too.

He could just lie here forever and ever and ever and never leave, that would be bliss. Mhm.

"Yo. Get the hell off my bed."

"Awwww, come on, Aominecchi. Momocchi's got the futon in the spare room, and you can't expect _me_ to sleep on a couch."

"I don't care, get out of the bed. Die."

Ooooh, twice in a minute. That's got to be a record.

Kise just shuts his eyes and folds his hands over his chest. He's way too comfy and tired and willful right now to give this up.

"Noooooo. There's room enough for both of us, isn't there?"

"Like hell there is."

It isn't until Kise feels his place in the bed sink under a weight that he blinks his eyes open once again.

Too close.

Sitting on the side of the bed, one hand pinned down by Kise's head.

He's still wet from his bath, his hair and the neckline of his white t-shirt both soaked. He's frowning, but there's a certain glow to his dark blue eyes. Rather than menacing, Aomine looks...

 A tiny drop of water rolls off his face and drips onto Kise's mouth.

"Heh," Kise actually smirks, licking his lower lip.

"Are you gonna make me, Aominecchi?"

"Why," Aomine starts, his deep voiced laced with confliction, his brows knitted with some internal agony.

"Should _I_ share _My_ bed with you!? Only I'm allowed to sleep in my bed!"

And with that, he scoops his hands under Kise's back in order to slam dunk the model right onto the ground.

But Kise is ready with a counter: without hesitation, he wraps his legs around Aomine's waist before he can be tossed off the mattress.

This leads to a brief struggle that ends up with both men tumbling onto the ground. Aomine hits the back of his head against the wall, while Kise, landing on top of him, smacks his forehead into the same wall a moment after.

"Ah, FUCK."

After a brief recovery period of groaning and clutching of their respective head injuries, Aomine and Kise move to untangle themselves from this mess.

"What the fuck are you doing??"

"Ummm, you were the one that started it?"

"HUH?"

Aomine manages to sit up, rubbing his head, with Kise now sitting between his outstretched legs, his thighs _still_ on either side of Aomine's waist. An only marginally less precarious position than the one before.

They glare at each other for a good long minute, gold vs. dark blue.

Kise feels the heat rise in his cheeks.

"Jeez, Aominecchi, you're so inhospitable" he pouts, grinding his hips forward...just a bit. To test.

"Yeah, well you're just fucking annoying" Aomine snaps back, fingers twitching several times before he cautiously slides his hands onto the small of Kise's slightly-arched back, and pulls him even closer towards himself.

"Then why'd you let me cry all over you? Hmmm?" Kise teases, tilting his head to the side, aware that he's treading in dangerous, dangerous territory.

"It's 'cause I'm so great." Aomine replies, brushing his lips against the side of Kise's throat.

The model runs his own fingers through the short blue locks of Aomine's hair. Hmph, not as soft as his own, but that's to be expected.

"Hey, Aominecchi. Are you sure about this-? Ahh."

"Mhm"

The sensation of Aomine's nipping under his Adam's apple almost makes Kise lose his train of thought.

"Like, really, really sure??"

"Mmmhm."

"'Cause you know, you cast me aside in the past, so I was sure you hated m-MPH!"

Aomine pulls back but keeps his head lowered, hand over Kise's mouth all the while.

"Shut up. And what about you?" he mutters into Kise's neck, still not moving.

"Are _you_ okay with this? Even after all this..."

Aominecchi with such stunning lack of confidence is a rare sight...and yet he's not pushing Kise away. He's clinging, pleading in his own way.

Kise can't respond with words, especially not with his mouth covered like this. So he wraps his fingers around Aomine's wrist and pulls his hand away just enough...to kiss his palm.

Run his tongue along the length of Aomine's middle finger, then suckle at his fingertips.

This is Kise's answer.

Naturally, Aomine finally raises his head at this (un?)expected response, and Kise can feel the heat of his dark blue gaze.

He is transfixed with the situation for a while longer, slipping in his index and ring fingers into Kise's mouth as well. But he pulls them out soon enough, to tilt Kise's chin up and sink his teeth into Kise's lower lip, hard, eliciting a small moan of happiness from the model.

After the bite comes a soft kiss.

This is how they are.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that mild spice piece ^ wasn't anything too risky, i thought, but uhhh, not sure i can say the same for whatever happens next chapter. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 
> 
> anyways, tag yourself i'm kise responding to 'pretty-boy' as if it's natural
> 
> Some fun facts about this chapter, to distract u from my messy plot holes and late update:  
> -the drink rainbow-senpai made for himuro is called a 'godmother', which i chose just 'cause muro works for yakuza queen Araki Masako lmao idk  
> -in the character's bible, mitobe's hobby is actually listed as 'photography'. works out great considering i totally didn't know this when i made him riko's photo-informant LOL  
> \- i didn't feature zaki, but did i really need to, he was probably at home wearing vegeta's 'badman' shirt, obsessing over ryou~~ta  
> -I DIDN'T REALLY FEATURE MIDORIN AND I AM SORRY FOR THAT? like he's next in line to fsu, but i just kind of thought i'd post this and i feel so bad. i love u carrot boy. 
> 
> thanks again for all ur comments, they fuel me in my time of need. sometimes i just reread them to motivate myself. BUT ALSO THANKS TO THOSE OF YOU WHO JUST READ QUIETLY DON'T WORRY ILY2


	7. Chapter 6- You Miss 100% Of The Shots You Don't Take...Except Midorin, He Never Misses A Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> many things, but a decent amount of backstory I GUESS YOU COULD SAY. not a lot to do with the chapter title but since when did my chapter titles ever make sense (cries)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, crawling back here clutching this chapter in my awful goblin hands, holding it out to all of you and begging forgiveness for leaving for so long.  
> i hope you have fun reading it and aren't disappointed after the ALMOST FOUR MONTH GAP (SOBS), though i've been up for so long that there very well might be spelling errors and nonsense, so for this I apologize.  
> Please note when reading that there's some mild-moderate spicy material under the 'like a prayer' bit, it's not very graphic but if you are bothered by that sort of thing i thought it would be good to give a heads up??  
> i love and cherish u all, sorry i'm a bad gremlin.

**[Sunday. 00:03. Love At First Snipe Part I]**

 

"Hm? The first time I met Shin-chan? I guess I'll tell you, since you're so cute. Let me think...that was already a couple years ago now, back when I was still working my old job.

This time around my client was a member of...a certain organization. Starts with N, ends with ational Diet. Don'tworryaboutit.

Well, I won't go into details, but let's just say I was hired to go on a trip to 'clean up' a 'little mess', if you catch my meaning. Haha yeah, I know, I know, but I had to pay for my baby sister's private school fees somehow....

Anyways, I'm on foreign soil, right, in a country where the weather is a _lot_ more unforgiving than here at home. The cleanup job takes me to the top floor of this sketchy hotel smack dab in the middle of the Capital's downtown area, so the fumes certainly don't help. And don't get me started on the whole 'hot air rises' thing.

Of course, there's no A/C anywhere.

So I'm standing in Room 1212, sweating my ass off, covered in rich man's blood (YIKES), and I've just disposed of Target 2 out of 3, with Target 3/3 held at gunpoint and literal moments away from death.

 I let my guard down for like 0.3 seconds to wipe my forehead with the bottom of my free palm and, as I move my hand, a slight glint from the nearest window catches my eye.

Not to jerk myself off or anything, but I'd say my reflexes are pre-tty high calibre. But in the half second it takes me to look out the window to locate the source of said glint, the glass has already shattered, a bullet has pierced through my arm, and some fucking squad of mercenary-looking guys just bust into the hotel room and snatch my prey right before my eyes. Just pick his sobbing ass up and ferry him off to God knows where without so much as a glance at me.

Like. Are you fucking kidding me? What a disaster. Of course I wasn't in a position to go after them, but I couldn't stay in the hotel either, so I booked it out of there with a bullet wound in my arm.

As pissed off as I was, there was at least the consolation that I'd managed to get a decent look at the man that  ruined my kill. I vowed to find out more about whatever the hell happened, confirm Target 3's death, and then take that sniper on. Seriously, I'd never been so motivated to personally kick someone's ass until that day.

But life has a funny way of playing out.

See, as I made this unrealistically accurate sharpshooter my sworn rival, which leads us to part II of this story. My second fated meeting with Shin-chan. There wasn't any music on at the time, obviously, but if you can imagine a kind of *buhnuh nuh nuh bedew bew* sort of guitar riff going on--"

"Takao, what...are you doing?"

"GEH!!!!......H-hey, Shin-chan, haha . When um, did you get here?"

"...Just now. Are you... talking to a stray cat?"

"Ahaha...ANYWAYS, you're looking pretty geared up. Is it about that time?"

"No, I am going out to train. It is natural to do everything in my power before an-"

"LOL YA I GET IT, SHIN-CHAN. / Honestly, you see what I have to deal with, kitty? He's not cute at all. I'll tell you the rest of the story later./"

"........................................................"

 

**[Sunday. 00:03. Like A Prayer]**

Fuck. This is dangerous.

Aomine's self-restraint is slipping away at a disturbing rate: It's been a while since his strength has been challenged like this.

Like, what is it with Kise, the bastard? He's...stupidly erotic. Casually sucking on Aomine's fingers  while staring up at him, gold eyes burning with heat, his cheeks dusted with a red blush....a bead of sweat rolling down his temple, the glint of the piercing dangling from his earlobe... And fuck, he smells so good, too.

How fucking annoying. As if _the_ Aomine Daiki could be so easily seduced by a flighty airhead like this little shit... well, whatever, two can play at that fucking game.

He spots a faint bruise, about the size of a thumbprint on the side of Kise's neck, no doubt left behind by some patron or target (hmmmmmm). This is where Aomine chooses to leave his mark.

The bite is deep, just short of drawing blood, and leaves a deep red impression that stands out on Kise's soft white skin, something that won't be so easy to conceal. The model lets out a stifled cry and shudders in Aomine's arms, gripping onto his shoulders as if holding on for dear life.

.....Well. Just about all the blood in Aomine's body just rushes to his dick. What a troublesome opponent he is faced with, perhaps he shouldn't have underestimated Kise Ryouta.

Naturally, this does not go unnoticed by Kise, who continues to play the offensive. Now he pushes himself off of Aomine, bites his own bottom lip, and crawls back a little, bending down...down...ok.

Kise  flicks his eyes up at Aomine, waiting for a go- ahead nod, then lowers his head to take the zipper  of Aomine's pants between his teeth.

Aomine's brows are knitted with frustration, but his mouth is grinning so wide it hurts, and he reaches down to brush the bangs out of Kise's face.

There is a slight rattling sound as Kise undoes the buckle of his own belt and slides a pale hand down his pants, toying with Aomine all the while. His silky hair brushes against Aomine's thighs as he moves his head, up...down....taking Aomine into his warm mouth, moving his tongue /excruciatingly/ slowly all the while.

Ugh. He's scary good at this.

Aomine grits his teeth to keep his voice from coming out, absently running his agitated fingers through Kise's hair. Part of him wants to push the model farther, to make a mess out of him, but... no, if this is a game, the only way he can go on  is by enduring this slow, sweet torment.

That's the way it always is with them, isn't it? From the very start...AH FUCK.

Whatever sentimental feelings Aomine almost makes the mistake of losing himself to dissolve as Kise begins to use his throat. That's just foul play, not that Aomine's complaining.

Afterwards, licking his lips, Kise has the nerve to ask, with a stupid, bright, shit-eating grin: "My win, Aominecchi?"

"Tch. Idiot. This is only the start. Don't get ahead of yourself."

"Hehe <3"

 

**[Sunday. 00:04. Is That How Misdirection Works?]**

"Where are we going, anyways? We've been driving for like three hours now.."

"We are relocating to a secure safehouse. It'll help both us and Miss Aida plan for our next move."

"Safehouse, huh...this is sure turning out to be a huge pain in the ass. How do we know we're not being followed there, anyways?"

"Rest assured, Kagami-kun, no one has ever been able to successfully tail me in a moving vehicle."

"Hah, so you have no presence, even when you're in a car."

".....Indeed. Due to extensive training, I can expand my misdirection to a radius up to 5 meters, allowing me to maximize stealth. It's a forbidden ninja technique passed down by one of the few remaining clans."

"!!!!!! Wait, holy shit, are you serious?"

..............

"Kuroko you bastard, you're messing with me again."

"Perish the thought."

 

**[Sunday. 01:31. Peaches and Scheme]**

Ki-chan, you  sly little fox.

Momoi ends a call with one of her sources, tossing her phone onto the futon and silently cursing a certain unreliable blonde model surely getting it on with her best friend in the near vicinity.

Of course he'd conveniently fail to mention that there was a disposable 'mob character' attack on Kagami Taiga when he went to go meet him just now. He sure had a lot to say (cry)about Tetsu-kun, but somehow neglected to share the / _slightly/_ more relevant plot point....and knowing Ki-chan, there's a 100% chance he knew the attack was coming in the first place.

Hmph. It's true that Momoi has the best supply of sources in this city, but she hooked him back up with Dai-chan, so didn't he OWE her this juicy intel-

Ah.

The information broker taps a finger to her pouting lips, suddenly reminded that she hasn't told Ki-chan about Shougo-kun's return, either...

OH WELL ^_ ^

It'll be more interesting anyways to see if Dai-chan tells him, or tries to act on his own, fufufu...

Since that boy is so awkward, always saying cruel things he doesn't mean and acting without thinking... it's almost worrisome to think about how he's going to move forward from here. Well, it's a good reunion as any, they'll work it out somehow. Their relationship, and the return of the problem child as well.

Momoi lightly pinches her cheeks in an effort to return her train of thought to the more important issues at hand.

After hearing about tonight's events, she's positive that both doses of today's lackey attacks were sent out by the same central force. Judging from the lack of lethal efficiency but disturbingly good timing, it seems the intent isn't to kill, but rather to divert or disturb the Game.

Akashi-kun??? No, more likely a pawn of his, acting on their own....or perhaps someone / _within/_ the Kagami Security Team...

And since it was an attack at Kagami Taiga's apartment, a direct consequence would be to transfer him to a safehouse...

So. What will Riko-chan do?

Momoi stops, presses a shaky hand to her chest and inhales slowly, slowly. She can feel the beat of her heart pump the blood that's rushing through her system, making her cheeks flush hot and her head dizzy.

God, she's so turned on right now.

Honestly, when it comes to the thrill of a challenge, she's much, much worse than Aomine.

 

**[Sunday. 01:35. Looks Like Someone Should Be Taking  A Sick Day]**

"Like, I'm just saying I don't like the texture, it's gross. They're unnecessarily slimy and it's like-"

Koganei is cut off as the door to the room slams open dramatically, with enough force to put a dent in the poor plaster wall. Looks like Riko's mood hasn't improved since the Momoi Satsuki Is Unforgivably Attractive revelation a few hours earlier.

"H-hey Boss. Everything go okay with the young master?"

Riko just stands there in the doorway, unmoving, her hand still gripping the knob; her eyes, bruised from lack of sleep, staring unblinkingly into the room.

Mitobe makes an anxious hand gesture.

Koganei translates: "So? How'd it go with the young master?"

This seems to break Riko out of her spell: she pinches the bridge of her nose and squeezes her eyes shut,  letting out a frustrated noise through her closed mouth.

"MMmmMMMMMM.... well, he's safe. For now. We've got all the attackers in our custody, so I dragged them through hell, but didn't come up with anything useful. Seems like they're just unknowing puppets of some much bigger pain in the ass. Couldn't even see them in action to see if I could pick up any info..."

"Shouldn't there be like, a billion security cameras installed in that place?"

"There is, but someone fucked with the CCTV after disabling the entire squad stationed."

"..!!!!!!!"

"Holy shit, the attackers did this???!"

"No...."

Riko's already grim countenance darkens by several shades. She rips off a sliver of her thumbnail and spits it out to the side forcefully.

"Seems like he's an acquaintance of Kuroko's. Came as a representative to extend an offer to an omiai for the young master."

Koganei doesn't even know where to start with this bit of news. Before he can dream up some kind of stock response, however:

"Say, Koganei-kun,"

Riko starts, steering the conversation elsewhere, quite emphatically.

"Y-yeah, boss?"

"Are you sure don't remember anything about the attackers who shot at us earlier?

Koganei's cat-mouth seems to intensify as he shakes his head sheepishly.

"Sorry..."

"No that's...alright. I couldn't get a good look at them either. I could tell they were decently well trained, and it was so like her M.O. that I was sure _that woman_ was behind it, but...."

Riko starts muttering to herself, grinding her fist against her forehead agitatedly.

".... compared to the masks.....but there's no way, how would that make any sense.... _but_ the timing was too good.....then a traitor? But how does that explain..."

Mitobe and Koganei exchange a brief concerned glance. Mitobe makes a emphasized hand gesture; Koganei intuitively understands what this means, and clears his throat.

"Boss? Everything oka-EEEEEK...............r-right. Of course not...my bad."

Mitobe gives the wounded man a gentle consoling pat on the shoulder. He did the best he could, it's okay.

Besides, judging from the sudden sparkle in Aida's brown eyes, it seems like the boss has figured out a plan.

 

**[Sunday. 02:16. Rainbow Road Part 2]**

/"The idea was to raise the perfect group of assassins. It was an initiative started by the largest criminal organization in this country, possibly the continent, for reasons I'm sure you can imagine. The project was a big secret, naturally, but ya know, from what I understand, there were plenty of big names in both politics and the underworld that were involved, whether it was funding or support or whatever.

Though I was practically a kid myself at the time,  I was put in charge of taking care of the children that were brought in for the project. Don't ask how I got involved; you may be cute, but even so I'm not about to tell you my life story.

There was something exceptional about these kids, I don't want to say superhuman but...well, you know what Murasakibara is like. Whether or not it was coincidence that they all happened to be the same age, and all came from unfortunate circumstances, I'll leave for you to decide.

The first to come was a trio that came from the same orphanage. Apparently, there had been rumours that they was set apart from the other kids, that something was 'off' about them,  so our people went to investigate. Sure enough, they came back with three bundles of raw potential and disconcerting natural skill. Raw power, analysis, and stealth, respectively.

Next was a kid they found in the mountains, who somehow miraculously managed to survive on his own. 'Natural predator' is how they referred to him, I hear they had a hard time bringing him back. That's your precious 'Reaper'. If you think he's a problem child now....

After that was a kid who approached us himself. (though looking back he may have been lured in by one of the project leaders). Either way, he had crazy good aim. See? The team was already so well rounded in terms of natural ability, you could practically call it a miracle.

Well......I also recruited one of the tyke bombs myself, little Haizaki Shougo--yeah, I know, I know-- whose father incurred so many debts with the local mafia that he ended up using his son as collateral to trade off. He was an attractive choice because of his versatility but what a PAIN IN MY ASS.

Since the project was heavily funded by the Akashi Family syndicate, it seems that out of an 'act of goodwill', the only son of Akashi Sr. was placed in with the rest of the children. I'm sure you've heard of him, the young Akashi Seijuro. Even as a brat, he was formidable. You could say he's the key a lot of the questions you want answered.

 the project was funded by Seijuro Sr., and as an 'act of goodwill'  he placed his own son in with the rest of his children.

So the project went pretty smoothly for the first little while. The kids spent a lot of time honing their general physical and mental abilities, and it was obvious that they learned and improved faster than is natural in a child of around ten years.

Since they were all kids from unfortunate situations, they never felt the need to escape. Rather, they adjusted quite well to this lifestyle, but of course that couldn't last.

See, the real trouble started once they introduced one more member of the team a year later-oh, can I pour you another glass?"/

Himuro sits up with a start.

A mistake, but it's too late now.

He waits a few moments until the wave of nausea subsides, the memories of last night still spinning in his head. All the things he learned from Nijimura last night are trickling back in order, but for now he has to hold remembering off to get a good look at  his surroundings.

It must be around  one or two in the morning....He's on a ... park bench? Why...

"Hmmmm, Muro-chin, you're finally awake?"

Murasakibara is sitting on the side of the bench, next to him--ah, no, does that count as sitting, really? His head is resting on the back, body slumped inwards, legs stretched before him : he looks like he's going to slip off any second.

Seeing him like this, illuminated by lamplight with his hood over his head, the entire contents of a bag of potato chips headed straight for his mouth, the collection of opened and unopened snacks surrounding him, the bruised bags under his half-lidded, lethargic violet eyes... Himuro can't help but smile a little. It's so familiar.  

"Did I black out? I don't remember getting here."

"Yaaaa, senpai says you blacked out after your seventh drink-"

Wahaaa how disgraceful! No one better tell Madame Araki...

"-so I carried you here....but it was a pain and I got hungry so..."

Himuro cranes his neck to glance back and, sure enough, past this small park space, he can clearly see the sign to Nijimura's bar in the distance. Good thing you didn't push yourself too hard, Atsushi....

Murasakibara licks the salt off each of his long fingers individually, then makes a half-hearted attempt to sit up properly.

It fails.

"Did you learn everything you wanted to?"

Himuro crawls forward and grabs a bottled green tea from Atsushi's side. He twists the cap off and drains about half the drink in one go; the liquid is colder than he expected, a cool sensation on his sore throat.

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand first, then responds:

"Mhm. It's all coming back slowly, but I get it now. Thank you for taking me there, Atsushi."

He doesn't know what else to say. He's still processing the entire story, and everything that Atsushi has been through, and everything that ties them together.

"'kay good."

Murasakibara doesn't ask any further questions. He just settles back into a comfortable silence, munching on more food. He doesn't move, except a slight shift when Himuro's sleepy head falls into his shoulder.

Going home can wait a little more.

 

 

**[Sunday. 02:45. 'Resignation' Plays On Repeat]**

"Shin-chan...where are we?"

"I have business here."

"Yah, I got that, thanks, but this is a pretty big traditional house..."

Looks like something straight out of a yakuza movie.

"Indeed, it was built during the Mei-"

"I MEANT, 'cause you know,"

Takao sets up the kickstand to his bicycle and leans against the handlebars, wondering what the heck Shin-chan is getting himself (no, both of them) into this time.

" I feel like if you're gonna pull off your super secret special mission hit on here, we maybe shouldn't have taken the wagon, not the greatest getaway vehicle, as we already know."

"Fool. I would have informed you beforehand if that were the case."

"True...but you're all decked out with your lucky charms, and you don't tell me much so I'm a little...."

Today his bandaged fingers are clutching an under ripe pineapple.

"........Before I execute the job I need to do, I would like to make sure I have everything clear. So I absolutely must meet this person."

"Hmmm...."

Takao doesn't need an explanation, as there's a 100% chance this will lead to something interesting, but there's an unsettling feeling churning in his stomach that he cannot shake.

"Shin-chan.......are you maybe nervous?"

Midorima's stern lips relax into an almost-smile, almost shocking Takao out of his unease.

"Hardly. Come, we do not have time to waste."

"If we didn't have time to waste, why didn't we just take the Benz here...."

As they approach the front gate, Takao is surprised to find they are met with nary a guard dog, nor any form of security for that matter-

No. Wait.

There is at  least one person in the vicinity..... Takao cannot see them, but he can sense their presence. Somewhere to the left....

He glances at Midorima: the sharpshooter's slightly raised eyebrow is enough to tell him that Shin-chan is also aware of this phantom presence.

On top of this, the closer they get to the entrance, the more Takao feels the overwhelming pressure of being watched. It's not the person nearby, either, but almost as if some greater force is staring directly into his soul.

Naturally he raises his defense mode up tenfold: no harm in being cautious. He's not used to this feeling at all, like he's performing for some unseen audience.

And so he almost loses it when a voice from the darkness states in chilling tones:

"What brings you here, Shintarou?"

 

**[Sunday. 03:34. With The Taste Of Your Lips I'm...]**

Safehouse B:  A rundown sento facility near the east side of the city, that has a hidden back room built in, equipped with the perfect measures for desperate times. Aside from the inconspicuous location,  the elaborate hiding spot is position so that one must make it through the women's changing room in order to access the entrance, which is designed to look like any other locker you might find.

The first and best choice to hide the certain heir of a certain financial empire when his ass is being hunted down by a largely unknown enemy. This fact is known by a small, but considerable handful of employees of the Kagami Surveillance Team.

.......Or not.

What if 'Safehouse B' is just a decoy to prevent potential rats or information leaks from compromising Kagami-kun's safety and in reality, the young master is being ferried off to a completely different safehouse, known only by his personal bodyguard Kuroko, Aida Riko herself, and one other trusted ally.

Then anyone barging into this Taiga-less bathhouse looking for a ripe heir for the picking will find themselves victim to the welcome of an _incredibly pissed off_ Aida Riko.

One? Two? Ten? Twenty ? It doesn't matter how many attackers show up this time, nor does it matter whether they're a traitor from her own team, or a well-informed outsider: they're all fucked.

She's sitting at the end of the room between two bathtubs, shoulder aching, trigger finger twitching impatiently over her precious Sig Sauer. It's been a while since Riko's felt the pressure and the thrill of lying in wait for the kill. Well, not kill, per se: what she wants right now is information.

There's still the possibility of the enemy having no knowledge of 'Safehouse B' at all, and instead had some pathetic game plan of attacking Kagami Taiga while he was in transit, or whatever. Not exactly a concern, though Riko isn't really thrilled at the prospect of safeguarding this freaking empty bathhouse all night for nothing, either.

"Tch, should have just made Teppei do this, he's basically recovered by now."

Though Riko mutters this to herself, there _is_ one more thing she wants to confirm. It's not like she's expecting anything, but on the off chance that maybe... _she_ ....saw through Riko's strategy and decided to...no, that would be ridiculous.

No way, now way. There's no way she would just walk into Riko's trap on purpose just to pick a fight, that would be absur-

The sliding door of  the changing room rattles open. A pair of small, pale feet step into the bathing area.

Seriously?

Riko sighs deeply, raising the Sig in her hand, refusing to look up as the sound of footsteps on damp tiled floor approaches her, slowly, steadily. The pain in Riko's shoulder almost doubles.

Had she been expecting this? Dreading this?

Hoping for this?

How frustrating.

The feet stop less than half a meter away from where Riko is sitting, and their owner crouches down to her eye level. Naked, and  completely unarmed, holding nothing but a small white hand towel over the forearm

So she's just /that/ confident, huh.

Already pissed off, Riko looks dead into the glittering pink eyes of her opponent, eyes she's only seen once before in a photograph. They're truly dazzling up close, as is all the rest of none other than Momoi Satsuki, upon whose plush lips plays a taunting smile.

There is a slight intake of breath, and Riko is suddenly struck by the feeling that she's about to hear something along the lines of:

"That's no good, Aida-san~, you shouldn't be fully clothed in the baths <3"

What's the best way to avoid this? What's the best way to take this overconfident woman, who dares underestimate Riko by showing up without so much as a weapon, by surprise?

There's no time to think, she must act now.

Riko's hand clenches around her gun, and she moves forward with trained speed, pressing her lips against Momoi's before the latter woman can get the upper hand.

Foolproof.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry zaki, looks like ur troublesome ass will have to wait for the next chapter !!!
> 
> the kagakuro was pretty brief this round, though they'll be spending some time alone together quite soon so...soon...more...
> 
> also i wasn't even going to write in takamido as a pairing, but it feels like my hands are just writing them that way...hmmmmmmm....it feels right...
> 
> thank you all so much for reading my silly fic, i really hope that you can still enjoy it even after the absurdly long wait for this chapter.  
> (´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ `)♡


	8. Chapter 7- I Know It's My Time-- And It's Now Or Never

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: has an assignment due and 3 midterms next week  
> My tiny gremlin hands: time 2 invest all ur time in fic update
> 
> AND SO I RETURN TO YOU, LATE AGAIN, WITH MORE OF THIS MESSY FIC OF MINE.  
> I thank you all for your patience, and I reeeeally hope you are still enjoying this! (ﾟωﾟ；)

**[Sunday. 03:35. Turntables]**

So-

**_SO SOFT?!_ **

What kind of angelic lip balm does this goddamn information broker use to get her lips to be this delicious? It's like kissing a fucking peach goddess or something. This woman.... Aren't her specs a little _too_ high?

No, no, more importantly! Momoi Satsuki actually hesitates for a fraction of a second, just enough time for Riko to gain the upper hand.  She's not about to waste time worrying if this is a trap, let alone have this plan of attack backfire because Momoi's lower lip is just.. ~~soooo sweet~~..

Riko knows from her quick analysis of Momoi's physique that she can't afford to pull any punches with this one. So she takes advantage of the slight pause to slam her adversary into the ground, hard:  free hand to the throat, knee to the  centre of the chest (between those...nevermind) and gun to the head, all in one fluid movement.

AHhh fffffUCK. The damaged shoulder is _not_ happy with this development, but she will just have to bear with it for a while longer.

Although she finally has Momoi beneath her, at her mercy, Riko still mentally prepares herself for a fight: there's no telling what she has planned--

" I didn't think you'd be so forward," Momoi murmurs flirtatiously, the very first words spoken between them, not making a single move to counterattack.

"Much better than I expected, the reports of your physical aptitude were true <3\. But I do hope you'll be gentle with me- oh dear~"

She lets out a delighted gasp as Riko shoves the barrel of her gun harder into her temple, never breaking eye contact.

What is this, psychological warfare?

"Don't fuck around. I have some questions for you to answer, Momoi Satsuki."

"Oh? Were you perhaps anticipating my arrival?"

Well. She can't deny this.

Riko relaxes her grip around Momoi's neck and slowly slides her fingers to the left side, ignoring the slight hum coming from the latter woman's smiling lips.

"Did you order the attack on me and my subordinate earlier today?"

Momoi pouts.

"Hmmmm, who knows... what do you think, Aida-san?"

"Just answer me."

Riko pretty much knows the answer, but she needs a control question if this going to work. Not that she'd put it past Momoi Satsuki to be able to fake her way through a normal lie detector, but Riko has confidence that her own trained senses are a far cry from 'normal'.

"No, that wasn't me. Actually, I was going to lure you into my own trap, but someone else interfered before I could."

"Do you know who it was?"

"I have an idea~"

Her rose-coloured eyes sparkle, gauging Riko's reactions.

"Where were you at around 8 p.m. yesterday ?"

"Torturing your attackers for information."

Riko almost pulls back in surprise. She's not...lying? Well, why would she lie about that...no, rather:

"What? Why would you do that?"

"It seems like some unwanted elements are interfering with our game. Besides,"

Something brushes against the wrist of Riko's gun hand. Even on 120% alert, it takes her half a second to long that this sensation is the grasp of Momoi's delicate fingers.

When did she-?!

The shift happens in a heartbeat. Before Riko can catch up with the situation, she's already on her back, shoulder in some special kind of agony, and her weapon out of reach.

"You're _my_ prey. I won't hand you over to anyone else  <3"

Momoi, who is now straddling Riko on the sento floor, intertwines the fingers of both hands into Riko's, pinning them down with a vice-like grip.

"Now, it wouldn't be fair if I don't get to hear something from you as well. I'd love it if you could tell me more about yourself, Aida-san. I _promise_ I won't tell a soul~"

 

**[Sunday. 03:39. "Excuse Me I Lost My Sons, Can I Make An Announcement? ... _Goodbye You Little Shits"_ ]**

Madame Araki Masako, head of the Araki clan, is just about to open a bottle of the sake she was gifted earlier today by an allied clan member, when she receives a notification on her phone. A photo message, sent by her trusted subordinate, Fukui, captioned:

"Your dragon and your reaper are sleeping on a random park bench....is that ok lol?"

Masako needs to set her phone down in order to massage her temples with both hands.

**[Sunday. 03:40. *Liam Neeson Voice* Now, The Next Part Is Very Important: Midorima-kun's Going To Take You]**

_"Haha,,  of course Taiga is an idiot. Without even understanding the position you are in, you blindly do your best. Do you even realize how many people wish to use you?_

_But  you've gotten this far relying on intuition and personal strength. Even if you are betrayed, even if you fail, you won't falter._

_Will you?"_

Kagami opens his eyes. The cold water rushing from the shower head hits the back of his neck and runs down his body, washing  away the sticky mess of memories clouding his mind. He's been so distracted lately, what with the new environment and Kuroko and the bounty and Kuroko, that's he's hardly had the time to think of anything else.

He tilts his head back to let the icy droplets of water roll off his face, then twists the faucet off. Reaching over to grab a large towel to wipe down with, Kagami then steps onto the cool floor of this massive hotel bathroom. It's all fancy, complete with a bowl sink and like five different varieties of expensive shampoos. As expected of a joint owned by the old man....

Who would have thought that one of the hotels of the Kagami-owned chain has a suite specifically that doubles as an established safehouse?

As he's drying himself off, Kagami notices a light bruising on the bend of his elbow, in the centre of which is a tiny red pinprick. Did that bastard... _take his blood_ that time?

".....shit is getting real complicated, huh.."

Kagami hopes they won't be staying here too long. Although that weird random fight with the masks and meeting Kise was exhausting, his blood feels restless. Itchy.

Speaking of blood...his clothes are too blood-and-sweat stained to be any good to wear now.  Shit.

He wraps the towel around his waist and opens the door into the main room, stepping back into the suite to find Kuroko sitting on....the only bed in the room, typing away at his laptop.

"Hey, is there a spare change of clothes I could wear? Mine are kind of disgusting, so..."

The bodyguard pauses and glances up from his computer, wordlessly running his cold blue stare down Kagami's form.

"......what."

Kuroko blinks.

"Although it's a western-styled hotel, I believe yukata are provided."

He gestures to a closet on the other side of the room. Indeed, several dark blue garments are folded neatly on a shelf in said closet. Kagami isn't entirely sure how he's supposed to wear this, but it's like any house robe, right, so it should be fine...

 He slips the yukata over his shoulders, uhhh. How to tie it...kinda loose like this??? Whatever, it's comfortable enough. He frees himself of the towel, folding it neatly, and turns back to face Kuroko, who has his hands pressed to his mouth.

"Is this good?"

" Yes, that is.........good."

The bodyguard turns back to his laptop, expressionless, although Kagami could swear that there is a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. What is he smirking about....

Of course, the young heir can't sit still at all, so he takes to engaging in some one-armed pushups on the hotel room floor.

1, 2.......,100.

 Switch arms.

"So, are we gonna fight the bastard who sent those masks tonight or what?"

"Hmmm," Kuroko fingers click against the keyboard rapidly for a few seconds before he replies.

"No. I believe those were sent by a less...significant player. We have more pressing enemies to deal with."

23, 24, 25.

"Who's next, then? Of your, uhhh, 'childhood friends'? "

"I  cannot be positive, but chances are it will be Midorima-kun. He was the team's long-range weapons specialist."

A sniper?

Kagami's pulse quickens at the thought.

45, 46, 47...

"Then is he out to get a hit on me?"  Hah. Just let him try.

Kuroko shakes his head, closing the laptop shut and setting it aside. His voice is unusually clipped:

"I believe his 'employer' is out for a live capture. It would make sense....that being said, I will ask you this once more, Kagami-kun,"

64,65,66...

"These people...they are strong, and they will stop at nothing to achieve their assigned goals. "If I am going to protect you _and_ complete my mission, I am going to need your help. You know very little about the situation; are you still sure you want to go through with this? Are you sure....that you trust me?"

_Without even understanding the position you're in..._

"I believe we should be make the first move this time. Kise's visit was a warning, but now it is time to be proactive. Kagami-kun. If you want to back out and stay hidden, please tell me now. "

97, 98,99....

"Hah, _who_ wants to back out?" Kagami snaps, sitting up abruptly and brushing aside a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.

"I already told you, I don't need to understand shit. A dangerous game with a bunch of strong people? Fuck yeah I'm in, stop asking already, jeez."

Kuroko exhales softly. He climbs off the bed and kneels down to Kagami's level.

"Thank you." he says in a voice so gentle, Kagami is taken aback.

"N-no problem." Ahhh, what the hell is this? The young master feels even more restless than before.

"Alright. Then I have a plan to lure the next one in; I will need Kagami-kun to get captured."

".......................h-huh?"

 

**[Sunday. 03:42. Love At First Snipe Part II]**

"So you can imagine my surprise when the guy I'd dedicated almost a year of my life to hunting down ends up being my new teammate. My reason for joining this unit was specifically to track him down, and he was just sitting there, my sworn rival, holding an old school oil lamp like it's the most natural thing in the world.

The situation was just so absurd and ironic that I just lost it, laughed until I thought I was going to throw up. So he waited for me to calm down, and when I did, what do you think is the first thing he asked me?"

Takao mimes pushing a pair of glasses up the bridge of his nose and adopts an uncanny imitation of Midorima's speech patterns:

"'You must be the new recruit, _nanodayo_. Tell me, what is your zodiac sign?'

So, obviously, my response was:

'What, are you hitting on me?'. I'm not claiming I'm mature, okay.

Anyways,  he just--

'No'.

Not even a comeback. How do I even work with someone like this? So I told  him I was born November 21st, and apparently that was enough for him to accept me onto the team.

Yeah, Shin-chan's an expert marksman, probably not many people in this world that can match him, but he's a little weirdo, bless his hear--"

"Takao?"

"Oh--! Hey Shin-chan, you're back already. Did you get what you came for?"

Midorima nods, glancing back at the closed door he just walked out of. A dim light on the outside of the house is reflected in his glasses, obscuring his eyes. Something inside of Takao's gut turns, but he pushes the feeling aside as Midorima turns back to face him properly.

"What were you talking to this time? The koi?" he peers down into the pond Takao is crouched down next to, as if expecting to see some avid listener fish.

Takao laughs, standing up and dusting himself off.

"I'm not sure. There was a presence on the grounds, over there somewhere, the entire time I was waiting for you. Like security, I guess? Or a phantom. I thought I might as well keep them company."

Shin-chan adjusts his glasses, frowning down at Takao.

"A phantom?"

"Yeah, you felt it too, right? That ghost presence. Anyways, that took you about an hour, what were you doing in there so long with that yak- I mean, your friend?"

"We were playing a game of shogi."

They head out towards the exit. As they walk side-by-side, Takao notes that Shin-chan smells faintly of incense. He gets the impression that he's not supposed to pry too deeply in this late-night visit.

Then again, Shin-chan brought him along for a reason...right?

"Shogi, huh....okay. Coming from you, it could have been a lot weirder. Who won?"

Shin-chan  shakes his head, and holds his hand out. Sitting in the middle of his palm is a white game piece, a silver general.

"The game is incomplete. After everything is over, I will come back here to finish it."  

.....Shin-chan's being especially cryptic tonight. Takao squeezes his hand against his own chest.

"Is that today's lucky item?"

"Something like that. Thank you for waiting, Takao. I am ready for the next part now; are you?"

Always, Shin-chan.

 

**[Sunday. 03:43. War Of Attrition]**

Four hours, six condoms, and one neighbour complaint later, a winner is finally determined. Kise  actually has to resort to slapping his palm on the bed to tap out, as his throat is too raw for his voice to come out properly.

Heh. The outcome was obvious from the start. No one can beat Aomine....in anything. Ever. Because he's just the best. Damn right.

Victorious, Aomine rolls onto his back. He would love to dish out some smug line, but having surpassed his own physical limit about an hour ago, he is fucking exhausted himself, so he just stays quiet in the guise of post coital stoicism.

The two men lay there, covered in sweat and catching their breaths, as they had done many times in the past after intense bouts of sparring. Only this time, the "intense sparring " is a little different....more _adult_ than it was before...

Now, Aomine can admit that this model bastard may have had a _head_ start in the first few quarters, the damn insatiable temptress. But ultimately, Aomine's stamina and perpetual horniness allowed for a complete turnaround.

He turns to look over at Kise, whose face is buried in the mess of sheets strewn about the mattress. Wasted.

"Oi.  Still alive?"

A tiny, muffled groan is the reply.

Aomine reaches over to touch the back of the model's neck; ah, it's slightly damp with sweat.

That's kinda sexy.

He keeps his hand like this, lightly stroking his thumb against Kise's nape. His own breathing steadies after a few minutes of this. From the open window, the sound of a siren wailing in the distance can be heard.

After moving his hand slightly, Aomine feels something rough under his fingers...the chain.

Frowning, Aomine props himself up on his arm and tugs at the necklace.

"Still wearing this thing, huh."

Kise shifts his head to the side so he can peek one golden eye up at Aomine.

"Of course," he replies, his voice still raspy and strained.

"It was a precious gift from you and Kurokocchi and Momocchi and the rest. Why would I want to take it off?"

He really thinks of it that way, huh. Aomine frowns, dropping the chain and opting instead to brush his knuckles along the side of Kise's face.

"We couldn't get through to you, so Satsuki and Akashi had to think of something....and Tetsu's the one who gave it to you, anyways. I had nothing to do with it."

"But originally it was Aominecchi's, right? From the orphanage you three were at before we met,"

Kise closes his eyes and pushes his cheek into Aomine's palm, like a cat.

"But none of that matters. It's full of important memories from those times."

"Hmph. How can you possibly think fondly of that shithole... they just used us and broke us."

"Mmmm but you remember what I was like back then, Aominecchi? When I was first brought in...I was barely alive. You all saved me."

Aomine hesitates, deepens his frown. He's not wrong, but there's no way he came out of the Teiko project unscathed. Aomine knows this, because he is the same way. As if his nightmares would let him forget. Besides...

"You sure about that ..."  continues to stroke Kise's face a little, narrowing his eyes down at him.

".......... _all_   of us?"

"Hmm?"

" He's back, you know. Haizaki."

Kise tilts his head up, raising his eyebrows in mild surprise..

"Shougo-kun? Back from what..?"

"Prison...what, you're telling me you didn't know?"

"Should I have known? So he's out already, you say..."

"Well. Apparently he caught wind of the game and is trying to get involved. He's already sent an attack on Murasakibara . Maybe a few of the others as well. Just small fry, but it's fucking annoying."

"Haha, yeah that sounds like Shougo-kun-...oh."

Kise's eyes flicker with some internal realization. With some effort, he sits up, fingers to his own lips.

"So he _was_  the one responsible...."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is," Kise grins, shifting gears and pressing his hand against Aomine's chest.

"It's bad manners to talk about another man while still in bed <3"

Aomine snorts, leaning back comfortably into the bed.

"Pfff, really? Isn't sex-for-info your specialty? "

A small, offended gasp.

"Aominecchi!!! WHY ARE YOU STILL SO MEAN TO ME!!"

He just can't help it.

 

**[Sunday. 03:45. Heartburn]**

"Should we get them to raid the safehouse?"

"Nah,"

Haizaki slips a cigarette between his lips and rummages through his jacket pockets until he finds a matchbox. He shakes a match out and since his hands are full, strikes it against a nearby brick wall.

"There won't be anyone there, anyways. It's enough that everyone is running around in circles, like idiots."

The smell of sulfur briefly drifts into the air around him as he lights the end of his cigarette.

"Yes, boss."

Haizaki slips his phone into his pants' pocket, then flicks his tongue over his thumb and finger tip, using these to extinguish the fast-burning flame on the match. He takes a long drag, watching the red embers burn through the paper.

It's been fun, shit-disturbing, creating chaos, making a mess for everyone else. Fun, but it's not nearly enough. More, he needs more.

He has always felt this greed, but it's like he hadn't felt it until that night...

A cloudy night, just like this one. About a year into the Teiko Project, Nijimura showed up with a new kid in hand, and introduced him as the latest addition to the team.

He was just like a doll. He didn't speak or acknowledge anyone else, just sat there  with a pretty, expressionless face, unless someone ordered him to do otherwise. He performed all tasks and training obediently and efficiently, but all the while his glazed golden eyes didn't seem to reflect anything at all.

It was only after a few weeks that someone figured it out, either Satsuki or Seijuro.

The kid had been sold into an underground trafficking ring, where he apparently got violent enough for the higher ups of the Teiko Project to hear about. That was the kind of hellhole Nijimura pulled him out from.

For young Haizaki, this was like looking into a cracked mirror, with Ryouta's dull gold existence on the other side, untouchable and unreachable.  

That's why it was so. Fucking. Bullshit. When, in their desperate struggle to stay sane, _they_ brought out that insufferable brightness of his. He was supposed to be a dirty, broken doll, a fucking toy, and yet he still managed to act like he pulled himself out of the filth. Just like the rest of them.

"Miracles, my ass." Haizaki mutters, noting that he has reached the very end of his cigarette. He flicks the butt onto the pavement and crushes it with the back of his heel. Better move on before someone catches onto his scent.

The acrid taste of smoke still lingers in the back of his throat.

 

**[Sunday. 03:48. That's What That Was]**

Akashi waits until Shintarou has fully left the vicinity before throwing a shawl over his shoulders, hugging his arms to himself, and stepping outside into the yard. The air is chill, but it is not unpleasant.

After a  few moments of silence, where the only sound heard is the light rustling of leaves in the breeze, a sullen voice behind him mutters:

"That guy was fucking weird..."

Akashi doesn't exactly laugh, but it does take him a second to be able to steady his voice properly to respond smoothly.

"Are you referring to Shintarou?"

"I mean, him too, but that guy he brought with him. He wouldn't stop talking to himself. The entire time. Like, what the fuck."

Akashi taps his closed fan against his lips, still facing away from the other party.

" Perhaps he was talking to you?"

"Hmmm....."

"In any case, I thank you for watching over the premises, Chihiro. You are a great help, as always."

He reaches his arm back, holding his hand out until he feels the light, hesitant touch of impossibly cold fingers.

"Yeah, whatever."

 

**[Sunday.  05:44. Grand Theft Taiga Part 0]**

"Haha, how'd you even know this was the right place? This kid seems to be pretty heavily protected."

"Fortune continues to guide me down the right path."

"PFFF SHIN-CHAN WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN"

"Don't laugh, Takao! You are too noisy. Just focus on the job."

"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. Still though, you're taking some serious precautions here. Just how badass is this bodyguard ex-boyfriend of yours that you're so scared of him?"  

"He's not my-..I'm not-.....be quiet, Takao."

"Haha, whaaaaaat, don't be mad."

"......Are you in position?"

"Yep yep!"

"I am ready as well. The blinds are closed, but I can still--"

"--Hey, uh, Shin-chan."

"What is it, Takao?"

"The target, that Taiga kid. He's supposed to be on the top floor of the hotel, right?"

".....Yes, that is what I said. My source is infallible."

"Kay, ahahha....well, seems like either he has a sexy little doppelganger wandering around the second floor hallways wearing nothing but the provided hotel casual-wear, or your source is very much _not_ infallible."

" ** _What._** "

"So what's it gonna be, Shin-chan? Plan B?"

"Tch. We have no choice. Try not to harm his body too much, the client will complain."

"I'll do my best, but I can't make any promises ;) "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (๑♡3♡๑) Thanks for staying with me even tho I take 11 gorillion years to update. For my traditional post-fic apologies:
> 
> > I know, I know, Riko's lil lie detection thing doesn't rlly work like that irl. But hear me out, this is a fic of a show where at one point in canon, Kuroko literally hadoukens the ball across the court
> 
> > I'm sorry I didn't go hard with the Aoki spice continuation, it just didn't fit in with how i set up the times, but FRET NOT, THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE MORE OF /THAT/ CONTENT SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME . 
> 
> > Also somehow feel i should apologize for making zaki's bit so broody and angsty....huhuhuh ¯\\_( ´･ω･)_/¯ what can i say? I'm a huge sucker for his obsession with Ry~ou~ta~
> 
> >NO MURAMURO??? I AM THE LITERAL WORST BUT I JUST DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO WRITE SOMETHING UP FOR THEM AND I AM SO. SO SORRY. FOR THIS. 
> 
> > AND YA I JUST THREW MAYUZUMI IN THERE DEFS WASN'T EXPECTING HIM BUT HE SURE SHOWED UP. 
> 
> >I'm rambling now so I'll just....be on my way lol. Lov u all <3


	9. Chapter 8- BALLSOHARD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡⌐□ ʖ ͡-□)︻̷┻̿═━一- 
> 
> N҉̻̭̺̫̖ ̷̸̣̥̪͖̗A̝̬̠̭͉̫̟̱͞ ̼̺̦̫̰͍̮̻͈N̷̺̞̕ ̙̼̮͖͎ͅO͡͏̮̰̖ ̟͙͙̳̤̱̗̤D̜̝͍̳ ̗̻̺̲͖̜͍͈̪͠A̛̫̹͟ ̫͙̮ͅY̶̦̘̩̝͓̕ ̸̛̘̬̤̗̪̮͇͙O̜̘̮
> 
>  
> 
> but actually lmao this long overdue chapter will be featuring: dark blue broodboi, yakuza beauty queen + her yakuza beauty queen sons, aida "overworked and smitten" riko, two eccentric kidnappers and a blessed red (a blessred if you will...nvm forget it), ash trash, ?????, and some npcs and hmmm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (╯︵╰,)  
> SHAMEFUL, so so so shameful of me, to leave you all hanging for 6 months. UNFORGIVABLE TBH AND TO THOSE WHO CAN'T HANDLE MY IRREGULAR SCHEDULES I ...completely understand and i'm so so so sorry. 
> 
> To those of you patiently putting up with my bullshit...... I DON'T DESERVE YOU BUT THIS GREMLIN IS ETERNALLY GRATEFUL (SOBS) 
> 
> It's no excuse, but a brief rundown to explain why i suck so hard:  
> >(MARCH-APRIL) > courses kicked my unworthy ASS  
> >(MAY) > TRIP  
> >(JUNE-JULY) > work AND writer's block kicked my unworthy ass  
> >(AUGUST) > some very messy personal life garbage  
> >(SEPTEMBER) > RECOVERY .... and back into writing. i write very slowly, and i really tried my best. i hope it's not too disappointing as a comeback...think of it as the first installment of part II, perhaps!
> 
> and lastly...since it's been so long, i sincerely hope that this is the update you all wanted to see, and that you can still be entertained by my silly story..
> 
> Again, thank u for ur patience, i love u . and now, the long-awaited (???) TIIIIIIIIIP OFF!

**[Sunday. 05:47. Wake ~~ao~~ Mi ~~ne~~ Up Inside]**

Ah, this again. It's been nonstop lately, and the same damn thing as always : he's still running, it's still so, so bright. Still, with the fragile illusion of childlike innocence.

Ohh, and now it's this part. The part where they all run together, the fleeting moment where he's no longer alone.

He looks to his right: the tiny tiny hand of a blush coloured blur grasps his fingers tightly.

He looks to his right: the haze of the familiar, multi-coloured mess of warm laughter. Pale blue, gold, violet, green, ash....shades of red. Like the glittering of sunshine through stained glass.

And then this part. The glass shatters, the sunshine fades away as they all break and bleed and disappear.....

........Huh? Always the same thing... right? But no, something is off.

He glances back, and finds himself facing a ...screen?

One-by-one, the faces of all the other children appear before him before flickering away. Each wearing the same distorted smile. Satsuki. Murasakibara. Midorima. Haizaki... Akashi.

...............Tetsu. The smile widens. T-t-tears in the eyes.

Next on the screen, he sees his own face. In surprise, he takes a step back, and the "he" on the screen mirrors his movements.

He steps closer; "he" steps closer. He reaches his hand out; "he" tilts his hand out. All at the same time, just like a reflection.

As soon as the fingers touch, the screen cracks.

He tries speak, but the words refuse to leave his throat. Instead, "he" raises a finger to "his" lips and, without opening his mouth, asks:

"What are you so afraid of?"

The cracked screen goes black. And so does everything else.

 

**[Sunday. 05:47. Wake ~~ao~~ Mi ~~ne~~ Up! Before You Go-G.........oh....]**

Aomine sits straight up, clutching his hand to his face as a searing pain courses through head. His heart feels like it's pumping battery acid at about 90000 bpm, and his body is coated in a thin layer of sweat.

Almost instinctively, he shifts his eyes to the side, peeking from behind his fingers to check the space next to him: empty. No sign Kise had ever been there, save for the faint scent of his cologne still lingering in the air of the room.

Tch.

Stretching back, Aomine pulls his relentlessly-vibrating phone out from behind his pillow, and with some mental effort, answers the early morning call. Before he can even speak:

"GUESS WHO GOT HER NUMBER!"

"Satsuki.... what the fuck time do you think it is?"

"Ooohh, so grumpy~. Are you sulking 'cause Ki-chan ran away ? Don't mind, Dai-chan, you'll just have to work harder from now on"

"I'm not sulki....how the fuck would _you_ know he left...? Ah, no, I mean-"

Aomine almost drops his phone.

"He didn't _tell you_ , did he???"

Momoi snorts on the other end of the line.

"He didn't need to tell me. Please, Dai-chan, as if you didn't see this coming."

"What the fuck are you talking about..."

Aomine grinds the corner of his phone into his forehead and frowns. His heart and head are still pounding, but he makes an effort to take a few deep breaths.

The thoughts don't formulate themselves so clearly, not at this ungodly hour, but Satsuki's voice is somehow enough to drag Aomine to some semblance of understanding.  

Right. An impulsive fuck and some sentimental pillow talk, there's no way that's enough to resolve over a decade's worth of time and issues.

He can't even bring himself to snap at Momoi that he "doesn't care", "what does it matter". Awful.

"Anyways," Momoi trucks on, as if she's already read and understood Aomine's thought process.

"While you two idiots were playing your cute game of repressed-feelings-chicken, I managed to make serious progress with Riko-chan <3"

Aomine reclines back onto his side, propping his head on his hand. He's much calmer now, though the pain in his head and chest is still relenting slowly.

"What, did she name a time and place she's gonna kick the rest of your ass?"

"Ahaha...what makes you say that...?"

With his pinky finger, Aomine scratches up the side of his nostril.

"I can hear it in your voice. She broke something, didn't she?"

"Mmm, I got so excited when I overpowered her that I became a bit careless, and she ended up crushing my hand a little. Of course, I'm overjoyed she wanted to hold hands, but broken fingers will make it difficult later, when I'm pleasuring h-"

"UH WOW, way to skip a few crucial steps. Anyways, shouldn't you be taking care of this Tetsu bullshit first before making these kinds of...plans.."

Momoi starts laughing so hard she ends up choking a bit. Aomine grits his teeth as he waits for her to finish.

"Satsuki..."

"Sorry, sorry, it's just ....hearing _that_ from _you_ , Dai-chan..."

Realization sets in about half a beat too late.

"................................Shut up. Go see a doctor. Idiot."

"I'll call you later <3"  

"You don't have to."

"DAI-CHAN, DON'T BE SO MEAN-"

Aomine sighs. Akashi sure has chosen some of the dumbest people to play his little game.

Now. His sleep's all fucked up, guess it's time to seek solace in Mai-chan.

There's way too much going on, like he's actually going to "deal" with any of it. Pff.

**[Sunday. 05:51. Unmarried With Children]**

"And? What do you two fuckin' clowns have to say for yourselves?"

Araki Masako asks through gritted teeth, tapping her shoulder tetchily with the shinai she brought specifically for this scolding.

"What were you going to do if you had been found by a rival clan? Forget having my reputation take hits because the infamous "dragon" and "reaper" like to sleep on the pavement , you two were prime targets for a fucking altercation. You know I can't afford to deal with this bullshit right now. And yet..."

She frowns down at her two most dangerous subordinates, whom she's made to sit before her on the floor of their own apartment. She gets the reactions she expects, but not the ones she wants:

Himuro, silent, staring back with an infuriatingly unapologetic expression on his stupid one-eyed doll face. And Atsushi, with his poorly stifled yawns and disinterested demeanour.

"Sorrrryyy, my bad, my bad, Masako-chin," he drawls in a tone that cannot possibly be sincere, as he slowly sprawls out and unravels his long limbs which were not designed to sit in seiza for longer than 30 seconds.

A blood vessel throbs in Masako's temple.

These two fucking brats.....

Masako lets out a resigned sigh, setting her shinai down to brush a few stray strands of black hair from her face.

Ah, whatever. All's well that ends well, there are more important things to deal with. But first, uhhh...

"By the way..."

She gestures her four-fingered hand towards the other side of the flat.

"What the fuck happened to your kitchen?"

The carefree atmosphere around Atsushi immediately darkens.

"Zaki-chin's goons killed my fridge" he growls, but offers no further explanation, as if Masako is supposed to understand what this nigh-incomprehensible sentence means.

She sighs again. It's a good thing she had something to drink before coming here.

"Tatsuya, give me the details later. And you two, don't forget you're comin' with me tomorrow. Try an' keep your shit together until then, no more naps on public property."

She pauses, grinding the tip of her shinai into her foot.

"No, wait, yer grounded. I'm grounding you. Don't leave this fucking flat until I come to get you, or so help me....

"Yes, ma'am"

"kaayyy, Masako-chin~"

"And take a fucking bath! Clean yerselves up."

Murasakibara and Himuro bow respectfully as Masako pointedly walks out of their apartment.

Fucking brats. Shit, they _are_ cute though.  

 

**[Sunday. 05:54. This Ain't A Scene It's A Goddamn Arms......Dealer]**

"I must say, I'm rather curious," C purrs in his usual insufferable way, clicking his fingernails against the handle to his newly-acquired briefcase. He's in a good mood, which never bodes well.

"As to why I've had the pleasure of your patronage so often this past month,"

He holds out a gold-encased lighter and switches the flame on, in offering. The tiny light flickers a little from the gentle early morning breeze.

"Shougo-kun?"

Haizaki snatches the lighter out of the arms dealer's hand and lights his cigarette himself. He tosses it back without a word, let alone a thank you.

 "I just ask," C continues without missing a beat, pocketing his lighter back into his beige suit jacket  and slowly, slowly circling around Haizak, smiling at him through the corner of his eye.

"Because I heard tell from a number of my sources in the police force and private security that there is a secret plague of pesky Masks running around the city lately. Nothing too worrisome, as they're not attacking normal civilians. A few bouts of them have already been taken care of.

But as I was listening to an account from a rather concussed security guard earlier--you must understand, those were my weapons found at the scene-- from his account it seems that even your golden boy has gotten involved~

Ah, but, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Shougo-kun?"

Haizaki's lower lip twitches. A passing car illuminates his face for a fraction of a second before he's shrouded in darkness once more.

After a pause, he scoffs.

"How the fuck should I know.." he mutters, his voice muffled from the cigarette between his lips.

"Oh my. You're usually so much more responsive when it comes to your precious Ryouta. Even after all the special things you told me about his history, I thought you'd-"

Haizaki sharply sucks air through his teeth.

"Is there somethin' else you wanna say, you fucking perv? 'Cause I've got shit to do."

C raises his heavily-jeweled hands in peace, laughing lightly. The briefcase hanging from his wrist swings from the motion.

"Relax, I'm just teasing you. Honestly, if those are your toys, keep them under better control or you'll regret it. Ah, but if they're not,"

C reaches out and plucks the cigarette from Haizaki's mouth before he can react, and takes a long, cheeky drag.

"Then who knows when you'll be next? Just a thought."

".............................Here's a thought: stop talking about shit you don't know and just have the fucking goods delivered on time."

"Ah, youth~. So impatient."

C waves goodbye.

Haizaki flips him off.

 

**[Sunday. 06:06. Skinship]**

It's been a while since they've taken a bath together.

There have been several times over the past few years where Himuro has -- _somehow_ \-- managed to drag an unconscious, blood-drenched, armed Atsushi into  the bathroom for a hosing down, but not much else. Of course, public bathhouses are a no-go, what with the massive ink dragon on Himuro's back.

So this is somewhat rare. Even more rare that Atsushi suggested himself they go in together. Atsushi can get clingy at times, like an oversized child, but this sort of skinship isn't something he normally initiates. Coming from someone who's usually quite easy to understand, it's confusing- no, misleading?

Not that Himuro is complaining. He takes a break from his own undressing to cast a sidelong glance as Murasakibara peels his shirt off and tosses it to the floor.

Nothing Himuro hasn't seen before, but.....still. Nice.

Once Atsushi's hands move down to undo his belt, however, Himuro Tatsuya forces himself to turn AWAY from the slow reveal of 208 centimeters of raw, sweaty (nn~) muscle, and back to stripping his own self.

He puts their clothes --picking Murasakibara's off the floor-- into the dirty laundry basket, before bracing himself for what is to come, and following Atushi through the entrance into the bathroom.

Their bathroom isn't particularly small, but violet Goliath still manages to make it seem cramped. He squats onto one of the stools, his limbs bent a little awkwardly ( ~~how cute..~~ ), and rinses himself off with the shower head. In the meantime, Himuro fills the bath with hot water and sets the temperature.

When he's done, Himuro carefully pads over to Atsushi and lowers his head closer to offer, softly:

"I'll wash your back?"

"Mm."

Warm, soapy water trickles down the ripples of Atsushi's wide back. Though he never did get his tattoos done, his skin is still decorated: by newer wounds, pink scars, the marks of carelessness and taking damage like it's nothing. Himuro can exactly recall where and how Atsushi gained those injuries.

But more than that:  the older, paler scars, reminders of a time that Himuro hasn't seen. As  Tatsuya washes the space between Murasakibara's shoulders, over a particularly nasty raised scar, he recalls the words of Nijimura from earlier.

" _How should I put this...the first little while was spent honing their general capabilities, pretty painless in comparison. We had a sniper,  close-range weapons specialists, some close combat specialists, stealth, analysis all covered. Pretty fucked up for a bunch of kids, but it got a hell of a lot worse when 'they' started mentally and physically pushing these kids way past their limits._

_So the Murasakibara you know, i won't go too deep into it, but.... the reason his switch keeps flipping is because of a constant effort to bring out the 'other' side of him, and then control it._

_Honestly, if I had to guess, he was probably inherently gentle to begin with .The abandonment pushed him and forced some crazy survival instincts out of him, but who knows what would have happened if he'd gotten real help after that."_

"Muro-chin?"

Himuro startles out of his thoughts, as Atsushi tilts his head back far enough to peer his violet eyes up at Himuro.

"Ah, sorry Atsushi, I got lost in thought. Did you want me to wash your hair as well?"

Murasakibara nods, and bows his head back down. His purple hair, dripping with water like this, gives off a silvery sheen. Pretty.

Himuro lathers the shampoo in his hands and massages it into Atsushi's head. This is much more relaxing, as the motion of curling his fingers through the surprisingly smooth, shoulder length locks helps him free himself from all those unnecessary thoughts. Atsushi too seems to enjoy it, if his low, satisfied hums are anything to go by.

Just as the last of the shampoo is rinsed from his hair, Murasakibara suddenly shifts around on his stool, wielding the showerhead menacingly. Startled, Himuro almost pulls back, but before he can, Atsushi grabs him by the shoulder with his free hand,

"Muro-chin. Me too."

And spins him right around.

"My turn."

Their positions reverse. Now it's Murasakibara's massive, clumsy hands doing a half-hearted job of washing Tatsuya's back. He gives up on the cloth halfway through and ends up just sliding  his fingers down Himuro's spine, lazily tracing along the art of the ink dragon.

His fingers are hot.

"Mmm, that should be enough," he mumbles after a while, extending his arm out for the shampoo, then stopping mid-reach with a monotone "ohhh" of realization.

"Muro-chin wants to wash his own hair, right? 'Cuzz you don't like people touching near your face."

Himuro reflexively touches his left cheek, under his fringe. Ah. That's right. It's true that having someone else get too close immediately puts him on edge.

So Atsushi considers these kinds of things as well.

"...Mm. I can handle it myself. Atsushi, you  can just get in the tub, it should be hot enough by now."

Atsushi's voyage to the bath means Himuro gets a close, full frontal view of his ass as he passes by, an unreasonably tasty ass for a man known as "The Reaper". As a result, Himuro needs a douse of cold water from the showerhead. To stay..."calm".

As Murasakibara sinks into the tub --larger than most, but still not large enough--, a good deal of water spills out and splashes onto the tile floor. He leaves his arms lolling out and his head tilted back.

When he finishes washing his own hair, Himuro gets up and tests the heat of the bath with his hand, then joining Atsushi, facing him while submerging his own body inside. Their legs inevitably bump and slide against each other under the water, tangling just enough for a comfortable fit.

"Too crowded, Muro-chin~~" Murasakibara complains, grabbing Himuro's calf to half-heartedly push it back, water around him splashing at his effort.

"Weren't you the one who said we should do this, Atsushi?" Himuro teases, sliding his leg farther into the other side of the tub, wishing he'd thought of this "bath bonding time" thing earlier.

Murasakibara frowns and gets quiet, his grip around Himuro's leg still firm, but no longer struggling. He folds his own legs closer to each other, pouting. His neck is a delicate shade of pink from the heat of the bath.

From the heat of..

His legs...

Oh.

Himuro's head suddenly feels light as all reason evaporates from his brain.

He sits up and moves forward, pressing his fingertips against Atsushi's chest, tilting his head to look into Atsushi's eyes properly.

One, two, three rapid heartbeats. That's a second.

"Atsushi...can I...?"

Four, five, six rapid heartbeats. That's a pause. A hesitation?

No. Murasakibara is just slow. The response comes from within Atsushi's throat, lips right under the space between Himuro's ear and his neck. He pulls Himuro's wrist down, under the water.

"Mhm."

Ah.

Himuro _really_   should have thought of  "bath bonding time" earlier.

 

**[Sunday.  06:11. Love At First Snipe Part III/ Grand Theft Taiga Part I]**

"Believe it or not, we didn't get along so well at first. Shin-chan's a real tsundere-type, all icy and stoic on the outside, so with him it's pretty easy to get the impression that you're being hated. Plus he smiles like once every 4 months, and even then it's like, a satisfied smirk. Ya know, if you praise him after a perfect hit, he goes all 'hmph, _naturally; my marksmanship is always infallible._ ** _Nanodayo_** _'_ Hahahha....

ahhhh.  Anyways, after a couple missions together, I was having a hard time making it work with this green icicle, but I found I couldn't leave him alone, either.

So one day I went up to him-- we were taking out some shitty CEO or something, definitely not important-- and I'm all like:

'Yo. Midorima-san,'

And he was fixing the gauge on his rifle while h...pffff....while he was holding this . fucking. tiny portrait of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. 'cause lucky item, oh my god, and this is integral to the story too.

Of course he ignored me at first and, okay, I'll admit this got me kinda testy, so I grabbed his arm. And oh my god was I surprised 'cause, ya know, this was the first time I'd ever touched Shin-chan. I hadn't realized until that moment, but Shin-chan fucking BUILT under those boring ass white collar button down shirts.

Anyways, of course being grabbed out of nowhere (tehe) finally got him to turn around, and h-"

Takao pauses to tilt his head to the side, steely blue-grey eyes glittering mischievously.

"...hm? What's wrong, Hostage-kun? Could it be you need to use the toilet? Is it constipation?? _Constipation_????"

The patch of duct tape plastered over the mouth of Kagami Taiga muffles what is almost surely a _colourful_   response to Takao's words. His glare of disapproval is scathing, enough to rival Midorima's ice cold reproaches.

"Ahaha, is that so?" Takao grins, leaning back against the back door of the van. What an entertaining young heir; if Takao pushes him a little harder, he might get to see something _real_ good.

"Hmmm, so where was I? Shin-chan, what was I say-..........Shin-chan?"

Midorima, for some reason, is grinding his face into the palm of his free hand.

"Takao, stop..saying unnecessary things."

".............................don't tell me you're feeling SHY-"

"SHUT UP TAKAO"

After his brief bout of laughter subsides, Takao wipes a stray tear from the corner of his eye and turns back to Kagami,

"Still,"

The assassin rests his elbow on the kidnapping victim's shoulder and gives him a good look. 

"You seem pretty relaxed for someone being stolen. Oh, maybe you think you'll just be ransomed off? The old man pays off some metric tonne in gold and you're free to go?  Unfortunately, this ain't that kinda kidnapping. Rich people sure are crazy~. "

No reaction? Haha, awww, well that's no fun. Looks like this kid really is quite the hardass young master. He may be pissed off, but his demeanour is too calm: pulse rate normal, eyes steady (and angry), breathing steady, no fidgeting other than his muffled protests.

He was probably trained for this kind of situation. He's playing it off pretty well, but still--

Too naive.

Takao plays with the chain necklace hanging around Taiga's neck.

"Or maybe you're just on guard after willingly making yourself bait, so cute little bodyguard-chan can track us all the way to the destination."

It's subtle, but Kagami's pupils contract.

Mmm. Now _that's_ more like it.

"Ahahhaa, yeah. Nothing on him, of course: his hunting style is almost completely undetectable. But,"

Takao winks, twirling his finger around the chain.

"I've got what you might call a good eye."

...............................

.

.

.

.

.

.

"SHIN-CHAN WASN'T MY JOKE FUNNY-"

"TAKAO SHUT! THE FUCK UP!!!!"

 

**[Sunday. 06:12. You Shouldn't Mix Business With Pleasure]**

Aida Riko didn't even know Kagami Taiga existed until a few years ago, around the time she replaced her father's role in running security for Kagami Sr. She had been sent on a flight to some random town in the States, unaware that the purpose of the trip was to discover her employer's most protected secret: his son.  

It was a surprise, for sure, to find out that the major part of her job would revolve around this unruly, willful...blood red brat. A brat at the centre of a very complex web of intrigue and deception. And danger, as Riko was soon to find out.

Partially raised and completely trained in combat by American ex-merc known by alias Alexandra Garcia, the young heir Kagami Taiga had little understanding of his own precarious position, and even less understanding of his "worth" as Kagami Sr.'s heir. 

Although Taiga possessed an almost terrifying potential as a combatant, and a lust for the fight to go along with his skill, it was undeniable that the flames burning in his crimson eyes were strong and pure. This, along with a rather...alarming experience involving the local mafia, a semi-automatic-wielding young priest, five million dollars of cocaine and Taiga's superhuman ability to jump his own height... was enough to captivate Riko, despite the youth's frustrating hardheadedness.

Before Riko was to depart to Japan, she was pulled aside by Garcia who, after a week of airy flirtatiousness, finally got serious and said:

"I've taken him almost as far as I could go. I'll be entrusting Taiga to you."

And Riko swore to Kagami Taiga's guardian that yes, she would do everything in her power to protect her young charge.

Which is why, in the midst of this current clusterfuck, to play her part in staying informed, keeping pests at bay, and keeping her enemies super close, like mouth-to-mouth close,  it was _totally_ necessary for her to give Momoi Satsuki her own untraceable personal number.

I-it's not like she was ch-

....ch....char.....cha...charm.....ch- _charmed_......or anything...

WAHAAAAH AHHHHH. no way no way no way no way uh-uh uh-uh uh-uh uH-OH.

 EMBARRASSING.

Riko's hand is still trembling. Not from the sharp hit that probably ended up at least fracturing Momoi's wrist when Riko regained control of the situation. Nor the crunchy headbutt delivered shortly after.

Nor the shortage of sleep over this past few ...lifetime. No.

Well, yes actually. To all of those things. But what's most rattling is that, upon discovering that they both had shown up to this sento for NOTHING, no show ups, no masks, no assailants, NOTHING, it seemed only natural to scrawl her digits onto Momoi's already-swelling wrist and tell her:

"You wanna know more about me? I'll tell you when you're ready to stand on my ground."

So fucking embarrassing. Who was that? Not Aida Riko, surely. Someone else. For sure.

Ahhhh.......fuck. Now it's a waiting game. Her own fault, but it made sense at the time.

All this mortification and confusion is making Riko hungry.               

She should go fix herself a snack to calm down. No wait, she can't cook. Then Kagami can--..no wait, he's in a safehouse, he can't cook with his life in danger. Ah, then Mitobe-..no he's still recovering.

Convenience store food can only make her vomit at this moment in time.....

Can't be helped.

Last resort speeddial: Kiyoshi Teppei.

 

**[Sunday. 06:12. Unmotivated Employee Of The Month]**

Head bowed; down on one knee; fist to the ground. All in respect.

Disgusting, but it can't be helped: Akashi is sooo anal about that kind of thing. "Propriety" and "noblesse oblige" and all that other worthless shit, he's all about it.

So yeah, no choice but to kneel before these random elite fuckos the ~ _Master~_ has collected to play his little game with his ex-teammates or whatever. How many was it again? 6? 7? Ugh, who can keep count.

"And?"  snaps a very unhinged, moustached, so-called "elite", emphatically waving the decorative banana he just so happened to have in his hands. 

"The summons for the omiai were delivered successfully by one of my Master's contacts, but Kagami Taiga- sama has yet to send his response-"

"HMPH!" the "elite" snorts, tapping the banana against his cheek with a misplaced air of smugness.

"My wife jumped the gun with the whole ~official~-" [Read: normal] "route to getting this all done. As if Kagami would allow his precious secret lovechild within ten feet of an arranged marriage. I went to college with the guy, he was always like that. Keeping the most important things hidden."

".....is that so, Xx-sama..."

Xx pauses, setting the banana back into its rightful bowl, alongside its friends: decorative pear and fake grapes.

"You must be judging my decision..." he begins pensively with a clenched fist full of emotion, so immersed in his own melodrama that he fails to realize the listening party could not give less of a fuck.

"But this is the best way...no, the only way. To deliver the Xx Family from ruin."

"Uhhhhhhhhhh.....yeah. The 'delivery experts' you hired are on their way with the 'goods' so......I will be taking my leave. Later." [Dumbass]

And with that, Mayuzumi Chihiro, personal retainer to the notorious Akashi Seijuro-sama, noiselessly fades away. Back to the outdoors, running between buildings (as 6 in the morning is way too late to be running around on rooftops like a respectable shadow of the night.

Back to his post as guard-dog, where Akashi likes to keep him close.

But still not close enough to let him inside the house.  

Whatever. Ah, but he has been down lately. Maybe this whole kidnapping disaster will cheer him up--

Chihiro brings his zoom-zooming to a complete halt. He's overcome by the sudden chill coursing through his body.

Was that -- ?

 

**[Sunday. 06:13. First Title Drop]**

Kuroko, **hell-bent** on his mission to 1. ensure the safety of _his_ young master Kagami Taiga, whom he has very knowingly thrown into danger, 2. "resolve conflict" with his former teammate, the country's deadliest sharpshooter ( & Co.!) and 3. ???, does, in fact, run right by a colourless presence disturbingly similar to his own, but...

It can be dealt with later.

Kagami-kun is waiting.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hkhkdjhjkfghd where's kise ?? MOMO?? why stop short just of the sexy muromura handjob??? WHERE'S MITOBE AND :3c ?????? akashicchi ????
> 
> questions that will haunt me until my next update. no but real talk, i'd written this much and i felt it would take me at least another week to add all those beauties in and i wanted to make an update so...sorry to those who were disappointed but i can promise you the next chapter will be coming much much muCH MUCH sooner as a result 
> 
> also super not sorry for hinting that i will be shoehorning kiyoshi into this. he is soft n warm like mash potato and i absolutely want to make him happy and make him suffer in this universe.
> 
> the only good thing that came out of this Six Months of Suffering (SMS, if u will... NO NVM) is that trying to write this made me ship kizaki a little...actually i feel like most of u wouldn't consider that a good thing but ...those of you that do...just know i'm ..i'm working on things. MOSTLY THIS THIS IS MAIN WORK BUT ...ok that's enough outta me
> 
> THANKS FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY TYPOS AND SHIT. I LOVE ALL OF YOU , AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS A WHOLE. you make my heart ...so happy....
> 
> feel free to yell at me for being the worst in the comments orz. i know i deserve it


	10. Chapter 9 Part I--Free Throw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dldl;jr;ktgfjlk;rlhtkj;lthj;r

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, with free time or the ability to pace myself: writing hard it hurty my brain
> 
> me, with impending finals looming over me crushing me with anxiety: let's spend full days doing nothing but updating fic
> 
> YEAH YEAH IT'S ME THE WORLD'S FLAKIEST GOBLIN!! This chapter is titled Part I because it's shorter, I originally wanted to finish Grand Theft Taiga in one go but I thought it would be better to share with u guys what i have and then just update waaaaaayyyy faster with the second half ??
> 
> Anyways this is unedited and probably very rough and i'm just so grateful for ur patience, and i really hope u can have fun with this chapter even if it's a bit rushed. <3

**[Sunday. 06:16. On The One Hand...]**

  
Hot.

Muro-chin’s fingers are sooooo. Hot. Slowly, deliberately toying with Murasakibara, rubbing him under the warm bath water with both hands. It feels good, so good, much better than the rare occasions Murasakibara takes it upon himself to take care of these kinds of urges.

But more than the sensation of being fondled under water, it’s the burning gaze from Muro-chin’s good eye that’s making Murasakibara feel especially hot. He gets a look like this sometimes, Muro-chin does, as though he’s possessed by a hunger he can barely control. Like a beast -- a dragon?

Muro-chin is panting a little, beads of sweat or water trickling down his temple and rolling off his chin. He’s flushed around the cheeks…... Pink like strawberry candy. Looks so tasty..

“Atsushi…?!” Muro-chin’s hands stop for a moment and he laughs in surprise as Murasakibara licks the right side of his face. He swallows, his adam’s apple bobbing behind the pale flesh of his throat.

That looks tasty too.

“Muro-chin….I wanna eat you”

Muro-chin stays quiet for a moment, and just squeezes Murasakibara harder, close to the base of his cock. !!!!!.

He rises a little, still holding onto Murasakibara, the water around splashing from the movement. And he leans forward to bite Murasakibara, right on the chest.

It hurts a little, like getting a needle, but Murasakibara feels himself throb under Muro-chin’s touch.

“Sorry, Atsushi,” Muro-chin murmurs against Murasakibara’s heart, lightly kissing the place where he had just sunk his teeth.  
  
“But right now I want to eat you. Is that okay?”

To eat or to be eaten, anything is fine, if it’s with Muro-chin.

**[Sunday. 06:20. On The Other Hand...]**

  
The bell to the entrance of the bar D R I V E rattles to herald someone’s arrival. The bar’s not open, though, it’s not open, IT’S CLOSED WHO IS IT NOW?!

But Nijimura already knows, without even looking up from the register at which he’s doing early morning opening counting duties, that it’s one of those damn brats. Misfortune comes in threes, so which one of them is his #2 unwanted guest?

“Ni-ji-muuuu-ra-saaaaan~”

Oh good, it’s the pink one. Little miss omniscient.

Momoi Satsuki beams as she bounces into the bar, waving a horribly bruised and bloodied hand in salutation. She’s sporting a black hoodie, to match the throbbing blackened bruise blossoming on her cheekbone. How rare.

Nijimura sucks some air through his teeth, and grudgingly sets down the books he’d been looking over.

“What is it with you kids lately. First it’s the purple shit, but at least HE brought a pretty friend along.”

“Ooooh, Mukkun stopped by?” Momoi hums, sliding onto the stool nearest Nijimura, slumping her weight against the counter. She displays her wound, which is in desperate need of treatment. Okay, okay, Nijimura gets it.

“And he even showed you his pet dragon, how nice~”

Nijimura raises an eyebrow, sliding a shot of vodka and a cloth over to Momoi.

“Any way you look at it, Murasakibara is the pet”

“Hmmmm, I’m not so sure” Momoi hums in response, dumping the entire shot over her injured hand. There’s no way that doesn’t sting, but Momoi doesn’t even flinch. She calmly proceeds to lightly dab the hand with a cloth, staining it with specs of blood.

Nijimura goes a bit farther back to grab an ice pack and some bandages. This whole situation is reminiscent of all those years ago, when he made it his main job was to try and fix up these broken brats. Old habits die hard, huh….

“Don’t you have ‘friends’ littered across the entire damn city you can go to for this? I haven’t seen you in years and you stroll in with your hand all fucked up.” he snaps irritably as he returns with his handful of first aid supplies.

“My ‘friends’ like to talk a lot. Ah, but I would’ve gone to Midorin for this sort of thing, if he wasn’t busy tonight.”

“Eh?” Nijimura frowns, trying to figure out how best to fashion a finger splint for this reckless IDIOT.

“What, you keep in touch?” he gently lifts Momoi’s hand, inspecting it with his brows furrowed.

“I guess if it’s you, it’s not that surprising, you were always the one doing the most to keep everyone together.”

Momoi sighs softly, her perpetual smile wavering for a moment. Under the dim light of the CLOSED bar, sitting there in her oversized hoodie, letting someone else take care of her injury…... she looks particularly small.

“I still do my best, but it’s not enough. That’s why, with this final game, Tetsu-kun might be able to………….”

Brat #1 came in to help out his friend. Brat #2 came in because she was lonely.

In a way, it’s almost cute that they rely on him, after all this time.

Or maybe he just feels guilty. For not being able to do anything for them, back then……

**[Lucky Item]**

  
The story of a child.  
  
But he wasn’t really a child. He was made, crafted into a tool:  
  
Green hair to blend in with jungle foliage; nigh superhuman aim and accuracy; obedient, disciplined, efficient. No memories of a family or a normal home. No sense of self.  
A perfect little weapon.  
  
But even a perfect little weapon can become defective. The cracks in the craftsmanship left room for memories to leak back in, and with the memories came dreams and wants. And a will.  
  
Too troublesome for a mere puppet. So the child was set to be disposed of, but he was still a perfect little weapon, and he turned on those that used him as a tool for warfare.  
  
And just when he thought he’d lost everything by his own hand, another child who wasn’t a child appeared before him, with glowing sunset-coloured eyes.  
  
With an outstretched hand, the other child, the sunset child, held a small piece of wood, etched with ink, and he asked:  
  
“Do you want to play with me?”  
  
**[Sunday. 06:30. Grand Theft Taiga Part II]**

  
The extravagant front garden of a conveniently secluded Western-style manor, property (for now…) of the Xx clan becomes a battleground, the exact second Kuroko Tetsuya steps foot on its grassy terrain.

There is no hope of a covert trespassing, as there is a terribly vigilant hawk on night watch.

“I’ve had my eye on you for a while now, shadow-chan,” Takao trills, firing three consecutive shots at the oncoming Kuroko from his position

“This is the first time Shin-chan has gone out on a personal mission, which is too interesting to pass up. So I’m afraid I can’t let you go collect your precious younger master just yet.”

Kuroko halts at this, murmurs out something incomprehensible. After a pause, he resumes a light, frankly unthreatening trot towards Takao. Confused, Takao holds his fire.

“What?”

“I said,” Kuroko stops again, bending over with his hands to his knees, out of breath.

“I am not here to collect young mas-...Kagami-kun….” a coughing fit ensures.

“Are you...winded?”  
  
Kuroko shakes his head, then puts a hand to his mouth and bends forward again.

“No, you’re clearly winded.”

“I am not…….”

Is this guy for real?

“Look, just be a good boy wait out here for the young master-”

The taste of blood suddenly fills Takao’s mouth. Before he can even move, Kuroko’s already behind him, holding something cold and metal to Takao’s nape.

“I said,”

Kuroko’s voice is cool, but there is an edge to his tone, as if he’s holding back laughter.

“I’m not here to see Kagami-kun.”

Takao grins, letting a mouthful of blood spill down his lips. It’s been a while since he’s been caught off guard like this, Shadow-chan moves like the fucking air, is he a ninja or somethin’ ?

And shit. He even got a hit in.

Interesting.

“And I told you to wait. So you’re gonna wait <3”

  
**[Sunday. 06:30. Grand Theft Taiga Part III (Failed negotiations)]**

“Look, I don’t get what you want!!!” Kagami snaps, exasperated, finally free of the constraints of duct tape.

“You’re going to marry my daughter and use your father’s influence to save us before the family goes to ruin!” snaps back Xx-sama, who is not yet accustomed to how he shoud be speaking to his "future son-in-law".

“You already sent me that omi...omay...invitation thing, what the fuck is the point of kidnapping me?”

“Don’t be absurd !! As if I can afford to waste time on giving you the luxury of declining this”

“THERE ARE A MILLION THINGS WRONG WITH THIS, ARE YOU STUPID?”

“YOU are the one who is stupid, young man!! You don’t even know how many grievances your bastard father has put me through, this is all HIS FAULT. If he hadn’t thrown me under the bus and ran my dealings into shit, I wouldn’t have lost the support of the..”

“Oh my god…..this guy won’t fucking stop….” Kagami mutters. He casts a sidelong glance at the kidnapper, the green one. So that’s Kuroko’s “Midorima”, huh. Looks like a real fucking prize.  
The glare off the lenses of his glasses renders his expression unreadable, although he’s emitting a pretty pissed off aura right now

“...so obviously, if you refuse, I can just sell you off to any number of other people who are after Kagami’s precious illegitimate son. You’re causing quite a stir in the community just by existing, you know. I’m in the perfect position, and it doesn’t even matter to me much if you’re taken away after the proceedings since they can’t be nullified so easily-- ah I guess I shouldn’t be telling YOU this. I’ve hired this young gentleman here to make sure that nothing goes wrong for me and …”

“Hey, aren’t you a sharpshooter or somethin’, that’s what Kuroko told me. Why are you doing a stupid job like this?” Kagami asks over Xx-sama’s angry tirade, craning his neck up to face Midorima.

“?? None of your business.”

Kagami can’t imagine how the situation could be any MORE his business than it already is, but okay.

The ropes on his wrists are chafing his skin and his legs hurt and the Xx guy still won’t stop talking. And this green Midorima guy fucking sucks, okay, Kagami just wants to throw down.

Kuroko, where in the goddamn hell are you?!

**[Sunday. 06:47. No Rest For The Wicked]**

  
After an unsuccessful hour of trying to sleep, with methods including: drinking warm tea that Satsuki almost surely planted in his kitchen, reading tiddy mags, jerking off to the rather fresh memory of Kise sucking him off (which ends up having the opposite effect), Aomine finally decides to abandon ship and take a fucking walk.

Aomine can’t find his hoodie so he just throws on a shirt and calls it a day, slips on some slip-ons and heads out the door.

Not even seven in the morning yet, and he’s out and about. This is practically exercise; Satsuki would be proud. Hell, maybe the fresh air will even clear the absolute shitshow going on in his thoughts right now.

Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.

Aomine doesn’t make it even two minutes away from his apartment, when some hero with his hood up manifests out of fucking nowhere, shoves a burner phone into Aomine’s hand, and disappears without a trace.

There’s only one person in the entire world that would pull off something this dramatic to avoid seeing Aomine in person.

“Akashi….”

“Good morning, Daiki. I’m surprised to see you up so early.”

“Cut the shit, Akashi, how did you even know I was - ..nevermind, your all-seeing eye”

“Do you mean my Emp-”

“What do you want. It’s not my time yet, Midorima’s still doing his job, isn’t he. Satsuki would be next up, anyways, that’s the way the order’s always been.”

There is a long pause. Akashi sighs openly into the receiver. A reaction only Aomine Daiki could incite.

“I suppose you want to decline my summons.”

“Damn right, I already got your stupid letter, what do I need to see you in person for? A touching reunion?? My ass.”

“..............well. I still expect to see you tonight at seven. I will send my proxy to deliver the rest of the details.”

Goddamnit.

“Ah, and Daiki, one more thing. Are you sure you can afford to have “touching reunions” with Ryouta before settling things ahead of time.”

“WHH-!?!”

“Good day!”

Click.

Aomine inhales deeply, then smashes the burner phone against the brick wall of the nearest building. Shards of phone scatter every which way, resting in pieces.

WHY IS EVERYONE SO OBSESSED WITH HIS SEX LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!

 

**[Sunday. 06:48. That Haizaki Over There]**

  
Blood drip-drips down Haizaki’s nose, rolls over his mouth. The pavement is grinding against his knees, cutting into the skin. It hurts it hurts it fucking hurts.

“Two-faced bitch. You don’t even know who the fuck you are. You’re just empty; an imitation.

You started out as nothing and tried so hard to make yourself worth something --for what.

Miracle my ass. What’s so special about cheap merchandise anyways? You tried so hard to make yourself worth something.

And look at you now. A toy to be used up and thrown away.

And yet you stand there all high and mighty. Just dripping with fucking arrogance.

Of course I wanted to knock you down a couple notches, remind you where you stand”

Ryouta takes his boot off Haizaki’s shoulder, and lets him collapse, breathless, back to the ground. He crouches down next to Haizaki, and waits for his coughing fit to subside before speaking.

“Hmmmm, Shougo-kun” he sing-songs sweetly, twirling his silver chain around his finger.

“I just can’t tell if you’re talking to me,” his voice drops a few octaves, sinister honey tones.

“Or to yourself?”

It’s the same. The same goddamn thing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that was mayu who handed daiki the burner phone btw he never has a day of rest not ever.
> 
> THANKS FOR READING !! HOPE IT WASN'T TOO DISAPPOINTING !!!
> 
> NEXT CHAPTER SHOULD COME OUT WAY WAY WYA WAY WAY WAYYYYY FASTER THAN THIS ONE 
> 
> orz <\-- that's me begging on my knees for forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> I am hungering for the commentary. T_T Please feed my comment-starved body.


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